Should African governments pull bushmeat trade out the shadows in the Congo Basin?
ATBC Meeting, 20-24July 2014, Cairns, Australia.
Daniel Cornélis(1), Nathalie van Vliet(2), Sébastien Le Bel(1)
Robert Nasi(2), Alain Billand(1)
(1) Cirad – Agricultural Research Center for Development
(2) Cifor - Center for International Forestry Research
Introduction
Congo basin tropical forest block
- covers around 2 million sq. km. - straddles over 6 countries - hotspot of biodiversity
Introduction
Congo basin population
- Around 100 000 inhabitants- Main protein source : hunting
Introduction
Increasing human impacts
- Logging- Road network expansion- Subsistence to commercial hunting
Bushmeat crisis in Central Africa !!!
www.bushmeat.net
From “bushmeat” to “bush meats” recognition
Strictly protected Partially protected UnprotectedSpecies protection status (Gabon) :
Strictly protected Partially protected UnprotectedSpecies protection status (Gabon) :
From “bushmeat” to “bush meats” recognition
Urban consumption represents only 6% of the overall consumption of bushmeat
X =
Estimates of bushmeat consumption in the Congo Basin : 4 million tons / year
Nasi, Taber & Van Vliet (2011) Empty forests, empty stomachs?
Po
pu
lati
on
siz
e N
Time T
Pro
du
ctio
n
P
Population size N
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)
0.5 K
Carrying capacity (K)
Po
pu
lati
on
siz
e N
Time T
Pro
du
ctio
n
P
Population size N
$2100 per kgon the black market
in Beijing, Chinaby craftsmen or factory owners
(Save The Elephants,2014)
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species
Po
pu
lati
on
siz
e N
Time T
Pro
du
ctio
n
P
Population size N
Economic threshold
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species
?
?
What are the options ?
250,000 km2
Potential alternatives to hunting ?
- Livestock breeding- Livestock importation- Mini-livestock
? ?
• There is a need to break this “ideological straitjacket” according to which man is inherently bad for nature, particularly in Africa.
• Hunt for food is a basic right, and the sale is a legally supervised practice worldwide
Shifting the Paradigm ...
5 good reasons to legalize bushmeat trade of resilient species in village territories:
• Food security (protein source)
• Important source of income in rural areas
• Informal activities are shortfalls for communities and Governments (tax revenues)
• A legal production system is simpler to follow in terms of public health (zoonoses).
• Organizing community-based hunting of common species paves the way for the
implementation of practices favorable to the conservation of endangered species
Shifting the Paradigm ...
• Test new commercial approaches on common and resilient species• in village hunting territories
• In forest concessions
• Adapt the legal framework (currently inadequate and subject to interpretation):• Inadequate (Open periods, game species, hunting methods, etc.).
• Subject to interpretation (eg not easy distinction between subsistence hunting and commercial hunting)
Way(s) forward ?
Source: World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the U.N. Secretariathttp://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm
0
20
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60
80
100
120
140
0
100
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300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Hu
man
den
sit
y (
per
km
2)
Hu
man
po
pu
lati
on
(m
illi
on
s)
Year
Central Africa - Human population prospects
High variant
Medium variant
Low variant
Expected and unexpected trends
Thank you for your attention!
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