Forest from Above

Its way more than just broccoli! Here is a photo taken from a Cessna piloted by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for the purposes of Law Enforcement Monitoring in the Okapi Reserve.
I was lucky to participate in one survol which had the goal to locate illegal activities and human installments seen from a pre-defined flight path. We took a 2 hr flight over a mixed-species primary forest. It is incredibly diverse from the air as seen in this photo. The diversity of colors due to flowering and leafing - different heights, shapes, and dimensions of crowns, make for a hypnotically stunning viewing-experience.

We located 3 existing villages and 1 new village - very very deep in the forest. The largest one had about 20 houses while the smallest was one isolated hut! It is amazing that these villages survive so far from roads. What is their method of subsistence? Who helps them out? These questions will have to be followed up by launching ground patrols. One village was mining gold and had recently been confronted and dispersed by park guards. We didn't see anybody down there, but maybe they were hiding in their houses. Telltale signs of water-filled pits, houses, and even an orange tarp made it easy to spot.

Also we located some edos which are clearings maintained by animals - typically large and mammalian - such that the vegetation is significantly reduced. Edos are attractive because of water, minerals, and eventually became a sort of social scene perhaps? We saw a series of 4 each of which were over 100m long...no animals down there at the time of our flight, but its interesting to know that activity is or has been significant there. Not much is known about how edos are used.