wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

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Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource R. NASI, N. VAN VLIET, M. PINEDO-VASQUEZ Subplenary: Forest Foods, Medicine and Human Health October 6 th , Salt Lake City, XXIV IUFRO World Congress

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Protein from forest wildlife (including fish) is crucial to food security, nutrition and health across the tropics. The harvest of duikers, antelopes, pigs, primates, rodents, birds, reptiles and fish provides invaluable benefits to local people both in terms of income and of improved nutritious diets. It also creates, often linked with commercialization, some very important health issues with the spread of several life-threatening diseases (Ebola, SARS). Vulnerability of the resource to harvest varies, with some species sustaining populations in heavily hunted secondary habitats, while others require intact forests with minimal harvesting to maintain healthy populations. Global attention has been drawn to biodiversity loss through debates regarding bushmeat, the “empty forest” syndrome and their ecological importance. However, information on the harvest and the trade remains fragmentary, along with understanding of their ecological, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions. Here we assess the consequences, both for ecosystems and local livelihoods, of the loss of these important resources and propose alternative management options.

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Page 1: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

R. NASI, N. VAN VLIET, M. PINEDO-VASQUEZ

Subplenary: Forest Foods, Medicine and Human HealthOctober 6th, Salt Lake City,

XXIV IUFRO World Congress

Page 2: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

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 biomass fluxes

Page 3: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Potential food crisis; malnutrition

Deforestation or forest degradation for alternative sources of protein

Unsustainable harvesting of other wild resources (e.g. fish)

Public health issues Loss of income Loss of cultural identity

Socio-economic aspects

Page 4: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Gender issues

• Plays a disproportionately important role in the livelihoods and well-being of women (and children)

• Women play an important role in the different value chains of these products and derive crucial income from the sales

• Women generally invest back their income into household food and wellbeing; men more into non essential goods

Page 5: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Wildlife and public health

Emerging diseases 70% of human diseases are

zoonoses SRAS, Marburg, Lassa, Nypah Ebola

Nutrition Bushmeat nutrient dense food Removing bushmeat from diet

will likely increase anemia and stunting

Page 6: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

A simplified bushmeat value chain

Hunters

Transporters

RetailersConsumers, rural

Consumers, urban (incl. international)

LA

Resource

Wholesalers

Page 7: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

The scale of bushmeat use and trade

5 million tonnes of bushmeat harvested annually in the Congo Basin, 4 million tonnes in the Amazon Basin Europe produces 7,5 million tonnes of beef per year Brazil produces 8,5 million tonnes of beef per year

BeefBushmeat

Page 8: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Most hunted species

Page 9: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Financial and economic evaluation of the bushmeat sector in Cameroon, Congo and Gabon (€/yr)

Cameroon Congo-Brazza Gabon

Financial profit- Rural areas- Urban areas- Export

9,8 million €2,1 million €7,6 million €0,2 million €

42,3 million €21,8 million €20,2 million €

0,7 million €

30,9 million €17,7 million €13,2 million €

0,1 million €

(Informal) Contribution to non-oil GDP

0,14% 1,9% 0,42%

Gross economic benefit (incl. self-consumption)

122 million € 108 million € 85 million €

Net economic benefit (incl. opportunity cost of labour)

58 million € 5 million € 62 million €

Page 10: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Tackling the protein gap

Solution can only be combinations of various actions at different points of the value chain and of the enabling environment

Actions need to be combined at various levels around 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

Page 11: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Improving sustainability of supply

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 protein sources• Bushmeat and freshwater fish consumption• Bushmeat and domestic meat (livestock, poultry…) footprints• Is there a nutritional transition? Where? Into which alternative protein

source?

Page 12: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Improving sustainability of supply

Extractive industries– Enforce codes of conducts and

include wildlife concerns in companies’ standard operating procedures

– Forbid transportation on company’s cars or trucks

– Establish manned checkpoints (with trained personnel) on main roads

– Provide alternative sources of protein at cost

– Organize, support community hunting schemes

– Adopt and implement certification

Page 13: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Reducing demand

Hunters, rural consumers– Develop alternative

sources of protein at a cost similar to bushmeat

– Improve economic opportunities in productive sectors

– Use local media (e.g. radio) to deliver environmental education and raise awareness

Page 14: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Reducing demand

Retailers, urban consumers– Strictly enforcing ban of protected/endangered species

sales 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 the species)

– Raising awareness of the issue in airports or seaports– Engaging and making accountable airline or shipping

companies

Page 15: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

“Enabling” environment

National policy makers and agencies (range states)– 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 key conservation concerns)

– Include bushmeat/wildlife modules in curricula

Page 16: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

“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

Page 17: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource

Bushmeat Research Initiative

www.cifor.org/bushmeat

Page 18: Wildlife: a forgotten and threatened forest resource