New Developments in Bushmeat Policy and Action

 

Throughout Africa, the commercial trade in bushmeat has grown to a level that is no longer sustainable for wildlife and the local communities that depend on it as a primary source of protein (see ABCG's extensive resources on bushmeat on our website). Conservationists, anthropologists, development professionals and policy makers have dedicated increasing attention to this issue over the past several years, and have identified many key drivers, complications and potential solutions to the crisis. Solutions are not simple or cheap. While demand for bushmeat from urban areas and involvement of professional hunters are key drivers of the unsustainable trade, the income that the bushmeat trade brings to local people is also a critical element of the issue. An interconnected and well-funded approach to conservation and development, law enforcement and education, and income and protein is necessary to begin to make an impact on ensuring a future of wildlife and human populations together.

 

At the 10^th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Nagoya, Japan this October, the parties adopted a decision on Sustainable Use of Biodiversity with many implications for the commercial and subsistence trade in bushmeat. The CBD Parties have recommended that the Liaison Group on Bushmeat and other partners develop options for small-scale food and income alternatives in tropical and sub-tropical countries based on the sustainable use of biodiversity as well as indicators and monitoring strategies for wildlife populations that would be used at national and regional levels to maintain healthy populations. In addition, the CBD Parties have endorsed a meeting to bring together experts to compile information on improving sustainable use of biodiversity in a landscape perspective.

James Evanson Kariuki

 

ABCG, its members, and partners at the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka

(http://www.mwekawildlife.org/) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/dic_home.html), worked together over the past several years to support such an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the bushmeat crisis in East Africa through the Mentoring for Environmental Training Outreach and Resource conservation (MENTOR Fellowship Program). As a result of the MENTOR program, a new network of eastern African wildlife professionals who can lead efforts to reduce illegal and unsustainable bushmeat exploitation at local, national and regional levels is being developed. Projects have included small-scale poultry raising, working with local community leaders and reviewing regional policies affecting wildlife. The Bushmeat-free Eastern Africa Network (BEAN) is an interdisciplinary network consisting of stakeholders who work collaboratively to implement grassroots solutions that directly address bushmeat exploitation problems affecting protected and surrounding areas in eastern Africa.

 

Together, we look forward to the new opportunities, actions and understanding that will emerge from the CBD decisions.

 

References:

Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group website: www.abcg.org

 

Bushmeat Crisis Task Force website: www.bushmeat.org

CBD sustainable Use of Biodiversity Decision as Adopted (advance unedited version)* (Agenda item 5.5)  http://www.cbd.int/cop/cop-10/doc/advance-final-unedited-texts/advance-unedited-version-sustainable-use-en.doc

 

CBD CoP 10 Nagoya News Highlights. Accessed 30 November 2010. http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/our_work/cbd_cop10_nagoya/

 

CBD. 17 November 2009. Report of the Liaison Group Meeting on Bushmeat. http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/for/lgb-01/official/lgb-01-02-en.pdf. Accessed 30 November 2010.

Here are some of the issues FRAMEweb members are talking about:

Wildlife - Does Wildlife Friendly certification inherently limit the growth potential for providers of WF products, or how do you overcome this?

With the exception of perhaps Wildlife Works, which could conceivably produce more t-shirts without impacting the local resource being protected (Rukinga connecting Tsavo East and West), most WF products depend on a resource that is in limited supply and in order to increase production would entail clearing land, adding more head of livestock, increasing harvest beyond sustainable levels, etc. Click here to contribute to the discussion.


Conservation - What are the challenges of approaching conservation from a development lens?

The first is finding donors who are willing to support combined development/conservation programs. There are a lot of donors who fund projects under one area or the other and very few who explicitly support integrated projects. Convincing a development program to fund an environmental project, or vice versa, can be very challenging. Click here to contribute and read the 4 responses.


CBNRM - Beekeeping, ecotourism and photographic safaris (via community-based wildlife management) are suggested as candidates conducive to scaling up CBNRM in Zimbabwe. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are suggested as areas to scale up CBNRM in Zimbabwe. Are there other prime areas in Zimbabwe that are in need of or could benefit from CBNRM (areas that have previously been overlooked by CBNRM practitioners)?Click here to join in the discussion.

Do you have a question or comment you want to post on FRAMEweb?

Sign-in, click on a Community Topic or Partner Page and click on the Ask icon.

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Expand your knowledge on wildlife conservation and management with these diverse resources.

Dirck Byler/USFWS

Reducing Illegal Wildlife Trafficking in Cameroon and Central African Countries*

A unique law enforcement partnership between Cameroonian wildlife authorities and the Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA) aims to investigate and prosecute wildlife crimes, associated with rampant illegal trade in apes and other wildlife. With funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Agency for International Development, LAGA is assisting the government of Cameroon to increase wildlife law enforcement capacity, produce effective deterrents to the killing of great apes and other wildlife, monitor the illegal wildlife trade, conduct public outreach campaigns and other activities, with a particular focus on the fight against corruption. The multidisciplinary approach has dramatically increased wildlife crime prosecutions to the level of one per week in the country with 87% of offenders serving prison time. This innovative program is now being replicated in the Central Africa region where illegal wildlife trade is widespread. In the Central African Republic, significant arrests have been made and governmental corruption is now being addressed.

Learn more about the Great Ape conservation programs supported by USFWS.


Food Security and Wildlife Conservation in Africa: Addressing Hunger and Farming Issues to

Courtesy of Simon Milledge/TRAFFIC

Conserve Wildlife 

This set of presentations was taken from a meeting focused on the linkages between food security and biodiversity conservation; successful efforts to prevent poaching by addressing the hunger situation and farming practices of local communities; and the identification of areas for possible field level collaboration between the conservation community, agricultural and food security sectors and other stake holders in Africa.

Presentations include:

• The Linkages between Ecoagriculture and Food Security by Sara Scherr, Forest Trends/EcoAgriculture Partners
• Snares Versus Hoes: Why Food Security is Fundamental to Wildlife Conservation by Dale Lewis, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)- Zambia
• Food Security Challenges and the Bushmeat Crisis by Liz Bennett, WCS/ Bushmeat Crisis Task Force
• Current Initiatives to End Hunger and Improve Agricultural Extension in Africa by Charles Riemenschneider, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Click here to access the full set of presentations, including notes from the meeting.

Jorge Pontes with necklace of jaguar teeth (Courtesy of Brazilian Federal Police)

ANIMAL INVESTIGATORS: How the World's First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species

Killing endangered and protected species is big business - with high profits, low penalties and little risk of getting caught. The more rare the animal, the more likely someone wants it and the more willing someone is to sell it. The vast size of most wilderness areas and few enforcement officers makes catching criminals in the act extremely difficult. And once the animal leaves the poachers hands, the victim is sliced and diced and processed until it's transformed into a host of consumable products - from trinkets and high fashion accessories to traditional medicines - that look nothing like the animal it came from. For wildlife crime investigations, knowing the species is essential to establish that a crime even took place. That's because some species are protected and others are not. Wildlife forensic scientists are now using innovative methods to identify species in wildlife parts and products and having a significant impact in linking wildlife traffickers to their crimes.
 
This book by Laurel Neme, an international consultant for natural resource management, fellow at the University of Vermont's Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security, combines mystery and true crime as she follows three true cases of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, the world's first and only dedicated wildlife crime lab. Her radio show, The WildLife, features interviews with scientists and other wildlife investigators. Connect with the author directly on FRAMEweb or click here to read an excerpt from this book.


*Project description provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of International Conservation.

           
NEW!! Featured Member


FRAMEgram will begin featuring a member in the newsletter who has been exceptionally active! This section will also give you a chance to learn more about other FRAMEweb members.

This Edition's Featured Member is...

Harold Williams* - 

I am an environmental journalist by profession, a Sierra Leonean by nationality. I received my education in the US and have traveled both Europe and Africa in pursuit of environmental journalism.

My activities will always be the acceleration of information sharing about environmental issues on as wide a spectrum possible, using appropriate methods for grass root communities and technocrats equally, always being gender sensitive and mindful of the youth and marginalized groups.

For the FRAME site, I consider STEWARD a valued partner.  I freelance continually and belong to the African Network of Environmental Journalists, Climate Change Media Partnership, Earth Journalism Network and the Sierra-Leone based Environmental Forum for Action.

Most recent Blog in FRAMEweb: A new quest...

* To see Harold's profile, login at the prompt when you click her name.