Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

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Conservation and Sustainable Use (sustainable forest management) 33 FAO AND THE BUSHMEAT CRISIS ElHadji Sène and Douglas Williamson Forestry Department, FAO, Rome E-mail:douglas.williamson@fao.org Keywords: Bushmeat, FAO, agriculture Introduction The formation of groups like the Ape Alliance and the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, the establishment of a CITES Working Group on bushmeat as a trade and wildlife management issue, the predictions of primate extinctions and regular media reports of the devastation of forest wildlife, create an aura of crisis about the wild meat issue. The purpose of this paper is to consider what the implications of this situation are for FAO and to explore appropriate responses to it. Wild meat is directly relevant to FAO’s mandate in at least two contexts. The first is the context of food security, the second is the context of forest conservation, broadly defined to include sustainable forest management. Wild meat and food security There is copious evidence that wild meat is an important component of the dietary intake of many people [e.g. Barnett 1997, Bennett & Robinson 2000, Caspary 1999a and 1999b, Caspary et al. 2001, Hofmann et al. 1999, Ntiamoa-Baidu 1997, Ojasti 1996]. In some countries wild meat is the basis of a substantial business. In Côte d’Ivoire, for instance, it was estimated that in 1996 around 120,000 tonnes of wild meat was harvested by over a million hunters [Caspary 1999b]. This was more than twice the yearly production of meat from domestic livestock, and its market value of around US$ 150 million represented 1.4% of the gross national product. But even though the cash value of wild meat can be substantial, this does not necessarily capture the full value of the contribution that wild meat makes to the well-being of poor rural people [Barnett, 1997]. In the sense of being a dietary component, wild meat is directly related to food security, but the relationship is not a simple one. The importance of the contribution that wild meat makes to food security is greatest where it is the only or the main source of animal protein and is difficult to replace. Importance to food security declines when wild meat is simply one of a number of interchangeable choices that are readily available to the consumer. Wild meat also contributes indirectly to the food security of those who derive some or all of their income from the harvesting, distribution, sale and/or marketing of wild meat. The magnitude of its contribution to the food security of such people depends on what proportion of their income it provides and how readily it is replaceable as a source of income. Another way in which wild meat [in the form of animal parts] can contribute indirectly to food security, is through its role in the practice of traditional medicine, which provides livelihoods for many people. Since wild meat manifestly contributes to food security and is derived from wild animals, which are a component of biodiversity, this is one way in which there is an unequivocal link between biodiversity and food security. There are other linkages between biodiversity and food security, but they are not relevant to this paper. Because wild meat manifestly contributes both directly and indirectly to the food security of many people, a decline in the availability of wild meat to the people who depend on it will have a negative effect on food security. This must be a cause of concern for FAO. 99
Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity Wild meat and forest conservation In FAO’s constitution agriculture is broadly defined to include fisheries and forestry, which means that forest conservation and sustainable forest management fall squarely within its mandate. Sustainable use of biodiversity is seen as an important tool for facilitating conservation by reconciling it with the needs and expectations of rural people. This reconciliation is achieved only if the use of biodiversity is indeed sustainable. The many indications that the harvesting of wild meat is often unsustainable thus have negative implications for the successful reconciliation of conservation with the needs of rural people. Unsustainable use of wild meat also has negative long term implications for the maintenance of forest biodiversity. The radical depletion of forest animal species, known as “the empty forest syndrome”, is increasingly prevalent, afflicting even protected areas like the Korup National Park in Cameroon [Terborgh 1999]. Since forest animals play important roles in ecological processes such as herbivory, predation, pollination and seed dispersal and germination, the loss of forest animal species will eventually be followed by the loss of the plant species that depend on them in one way or the other. This is a further cause for concern. What FAO is doing about the Bushmeat Crisis? FAO’s current and planned activities in response to the Bushmeat Crisis involve working with partners to address the issue at all levels from policy, legal and institutional considerations to working directly on the ground through projects. Recent and ongoing activities include: • holding an FAO/IUCN/TRAFFIC workhop on bushmeat in Cameroon during October 2001; • developing a checklist of crucial policy, legal and institutional considerations which must be addressed to facilitate improved sustainability of the use of forest wildlife; • holding of national workshops to develop national action plans addressing the bushmeat issue; • developing a substantial project to address the bushmeat issue on the ground and strengthen the World Heritage Programme in the Congo Basin in partnership with UNESCO, the United Nations Foundation and a number of key international conservation NGOs. It is expected that FAO involvement in the bushmeat issue will grow in the coming years. References Barnett R ed. [1997] FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The utilization of wild meat in Eastern and Southern Africa. Nairobi: Traffic East/Southern Africa. Bennett E L & J G Robinson [2000] Hunting of Wildlife in Tropical Forests. World Bank. Biodiversity Series – IMPACT STUDIES, Paper No. 76 Caspary H-U [1999a] When the monkey ‘goes butcher’: hunting, trading and consumption of bushmeat in the Tai National Park, Southwest Cote d’Ivoire. In: Seminar Proceedings ‘NTFP Research in the Tropenbos Programme: Results and Perspectives’, M A F Ros-Tonen ed., pp 123-130. Wageningen, Netherlands : The Troppenbos Foundation. Caspary H-U [1999b] Utilisation de la faune sauvage en Cote d’Ivoire et Afrique de l’Ouest – potentiels et contraintes pour la cooperation au developpement. Eschborn: GTZ. 100
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