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Conservation and utilization of wildlife in the CongoBasin: How to tackle the protein gap?
Robert Nasi, Nathalie Van Vliet, Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez
NutritionandFoodProductionintheCongoBasinBrussels,30September–1October2013
The “Bushmeat Crisis” Empirical evidence
• Historical: hunting-relatedextinctions (passengerpigeon, American buffalo…)
• Today: local extirpationbecause of hunting (for foodor trade in wildlife parts)
Is “doomsday” coming?• Not sure but there is a clear
sustainability problem
Biodiversity but alsolivelihoods of local peopleare at stake
Importance of wildlife
Ecological• Keystone species• Ecological services
Economical• Local livelihoods, food
security• Income generation
Cultural• Social bonding,• Redistribution• Traditional ceremonies,• Taboos
Defaunation• Not restricted only to
environmental orconservation issues
• Livelihoods issues areat least as important
• “Bushmeat hunting”needs to beapproached as asocio-ecologicalsystem
Ecological aspects Extinction or extirpation of
hunted species Food chain feed–back and
Allee effects Potential pest outbreaks Changes in pollination
patterns Changes in seed predation
/ dispersion patterns Modification of vegetation
dynamics and biomassfluxes
Potential food crisis;malnutrition
Deforestation or forestdegradation foralternative sources ofprotein
Unsustainable harvestingof other wild resources(e.g. fish)
Public health issues Loss of income Loss of cultural identity
Socio-economic aspects
Estimates of the value of thebushmeat trade range fromUS$42 to US$205 million peryear in West-Central Africa.
Current harvest in Central Africaalone may well be in excess of 5million tons annually, equivalentof over 2 billion chickens or 15million cows!
30 to 80% of the protein intakeof many rural populations
Bushmeat huntingin Congo Basin
A simplified bushmeatvalue chain
Hunters
Transporters
RetailersConsumers,rural
Consumers,urban(incl.international)
LA
Resource
Wholesalers
Complex wicked problem, no simple solution or“silver bullet”
Driven by many underlying causes similar to theones that drive poverty
Livelihood issues as important as biological ones Very important gender dimension to be properly
considered Interdiction and enforcement only policies cannot
work in the short or medium term Resource needs to be managed and its use
monitored
Issues at hands
Tackling the protein gap
Solution can only be combinations of variousactions at different points of the value chain andof the enabling environment
Actions need to be combined at various levelsaround three main elements:– Reducing the demand for bushmeat– Making the off-take, supply more sustainable with proper
management of the resource– Creating an conducive and enabling institutional and
policy environment
Reducing demand
Hunters, ruralconsumers– Develop alternative
sources of protein at a costsimilar to bushmeat
– Improve economicopportunities in productivesectors
– Use local media (e.g.radio) to deliverenvironmental educationand raise awareness
Reducing demand Retailers, urban consumers
– Strictly enforcing ban of protected/endangered speciessales and consumption
– Confiscating and publicly incinerating carcasses– Taxing sales of authorized species
International consumers– Instituting very heavy fines for possession or trade of
bushmeat (whatever the status or provenance of thespecies)
– Raising awareness of the issue in airports or seaports– Engaging and making accountable airline or shipping
companies
Improving sustainability ofsupply
Hunter, rural consumers– Negotiate hunting rules allowing harvesting resilient species and
banning vulnerable ones– Define self-monitored quotas and co-construct simple self-
monitoring tools Research and extension services
– Develop and disseminate simple monitoring methods– Understanding the “empty forest” syndrome:
• Role of source-sink effects in hunting areas• Competition and substitutions effects on forest composition and structure
– Analyze relationships and trade-off between bushmeat and other proteinsources
• Bushmeat and freshwater fish consumption• Bushmeat and domestic meat (livestock, poultry…) footprints• Is there a nutritional transition? Where? Into which alternative protein source?
Improving sustainability ofsupply
Extractive industries– Enforce codes of conducts and
include wildlife concerns incompanies’ standard operatingprocedures
– Forbid transportation on company’scars or trucks
– Establish manned checkpoints (withtrained personnel) on main roads
– Provide alternative sources ofprotein at cost
– Organize, support communityhunting schemes
– Adopt and implement certification
“Enabling” environment
National policy makers and agencies (rangestates)– Enhancing ownership, linked to tenurial and rights
reform– Legitimize the bushmeat debate– Make an economic assessment of the sector and include
in national statistics– Acknowledge contribution of bushmeat to food security
in national strategies– Develop a framework to “formalize” parts of the trade– Review national legislation for coherence, practicality and
to reflect actual practices (without surrendering keyconservation concerns)
– Include bushmeat/wildlife modules in curricula
“Enabling” environment International policies
– Strict enforcement of CITES– Ensure wildlife issues are covered within internationally-
supported policy processes– Link international trade with increased emerging disease
risks– Impose tough fines and shame irresponsible behavior
Local institutions– Negotiate full support of communities that have a vested
interest in protecting the resource– Increase capacity to setup and manage sustainable
bushmeat markets– Develop local participatory monitoring tools
Conclusion? No universal solutions exist to solve the problem
of unsustainable bushmeat hunting in tropicalforests.
Some principles need to be taken into account inorder to achieve the sustainability of bushmeathunting:– Ensure that research is linked to the practices– Mitigate against the potential for tension between
livelihood and conservation objectives– Analyse both the livelihood and conservation implications
of a given intervention on all stakeholders– Search alternative models from other sectors– Identify the most appropriate entry points– Employ multi-pronged approaches to a complex problem
by involving different stakeholders
Pictures: NathalieVan Vliet, David
Wilkie, Rober Nasiand CIFOR