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Since 2005, specialists from the University of Maryland’s Department of Geography have worked hand in hand with AWF, the parks authority, and local communities in the Maringa Lopori Wamba landscape of the DRC to create models and maps to aid in conservation land use planning and zoning. UMD experts lead participatory mapping, conduct remote sensing, and establish baselines and track changes over time concerning forest cover, agriculture, settlement, prevalence of fire, bonobo and other indictors which help AWF, UMD, and other partners in the Congo Basin track the health of the forest and determine where to direct resources.