Fine-scale human-flood relationships in the Congo Basin: ethnographic perspectives from the Lac Télé Community Reserve.

The Likouala-aux-Herbes river and surrounding swamp forests of the northern Republic of Congo are described in scientific literature as a wetland forest system characterized by a bimodal flood pulse and widespread seasonal flooding. Recent climatic and hydrological modelling of the Congo Basin and Cuvette Centrale peatlands, moreover, positions the Likouala region as a rain-fed or ombrotrophic peatland. However, human populations experience and adapt to flooding at a more localized scale. This study presents ethnographic data on flooding and seasonality from six villages within the Lac Télé Community Reserve (LTCR), a protected area in the Likouala swamp forest biome and the country's only Community Reserve. Our findings reveal how spatio-temporally variable flooding produces village-specific cultures, livelihood cycles, adaptations and vulnerabilities-an interconnected gradient of biocultural relationships. Across villages, flood dynamics have changed drastically over the last decades. Climate change, economic transitions and erosion of local knowledge systems are straining long-standing adaptive frameworks within and between LTCR communities. We emphasize the importance of ethnographic data in understanding fine-scale human-environment interactions and suggest that biocultural analysis at this scale-what we term the 'hydrocultural patch'-is essential for effective landscape governance and policy development in the context of accelerating climate change. A French translation of this abstract is available in the supplementary material. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'African tropical peatlands: function, value and vulnerability'.