Carlo Piaggia, the definition of “gallery forests”, and forest avifauna in Central Africa

In this paper, we provide a brief overview of how the concept of ‘Gallery Forest’ originated during the first European expedition into the Democratic Republic of Congo via the Nile route, led by Carlo Piaggia. Piaggia spent nearly two years with the Azande people, gathering ethnographic materials and documenting their customs. His work garnered significant recognition from the botanist George Schweinfurth, who followed Piaggia’s path through the ‘Niam Niam Country’ with greater resources and personnel. Schweinfurth corroborated most of Piaggia’s observations and suggested ‘Gallery Forests’ as the term for these riverine forests surrounded by savannah habitats.However, for various reasons, which we will briefly discuss, Piaggia was not widely acknowledged as the first collector of West African avifauna in Central Africa, particularly the grey parrot Psittacus erythacus. Incorrectly, the French zoologist Bouvier published Piaggia’s bird collection in 1877, attributing it to the M’Tesa Kingdom in Uganda, when its true origin is likely Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, we owe Bouvier the credit for naming one bird species, Zoothera piaggiae, in honor of the great Italian explorer.