[citation needed] There is also a naval base of the Navy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is partly maintained with Chinese assistance.[2] The work is being carried out by DP World, despite a lack of public tender, as part of its 30 year development and management contract.[2] The project has been criticized for its potential environmental threats, since it borders the country's Mangroves National Park, home to vulnerable and endangered plant and animal species.Henry Morton Stanley arrived at Banana in 1879 at the start of an exploratory expedition funded by Leopold II of Belgium.The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911) article on the folkloric belief in werewolves noted that "The people of Banana are said to change themselves by magical means, composed of human embryos and other ingredients, but in their leopard form they may do no hurt to mankind under pain of retaining for ever the beast shape.