ODI Bushmeat and Livelihoods Research Project

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A hunters' forest camp in Liberia, West Africa

A group of net hunters in coastal thickets, Tanzania, East Africa

Readying a consignment of bushmeat for transport to market in Liberia, West Africa

'A new project researching the human and social dimensions of hunting wild meat for consumptive use in tropical forests'
High levels of wild meat - bushmeat - hunting in the tropics is of increasing international concern. The United Nations has warned of an impending 'bushmeat crisis' in many parts of the world - which threatens both the food security of forest communities and the survival of the species hunted. In significant parts of the tropics, especially in Africa, there is now a massive and completely unmanaged harvest of wild meat for consumptive purposes. In these areas the levels of offtake may well represent a greater threat to the sustainability of wildlife than habitat conversion. more The reasons for accelerating offtake are numerous and well documented: more policy and market failures which have lead to: under-valuation of the resource and; discentives for its management monetisation of economies increasing rates of urbanisation opening up of isolated forest areas through logging activity & infrastructure development changes in hunting technology militarisation of forest areas changes in the macro-economic environment population growth
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The future ability of the rural poor to benefit from the resource is at risk - and this has important livelihood and social safety net implications, and is an evident threat to the conservation of biodiversity. Given the ecosystem functions which wild animals contribute, the threat goes beyond conservation of fauna alone. more The bushmeat crisis is relevant to international development policy as the nature of the crisis provides a pressing opportunity to further address two major cross cutting issues in natural resource management: top of page
Solutions to the bushmeat crisis have been very difficult to find. To date research has been dominated by animal protection agencies, which have rather sidelined human interests to conservation needs. Thus the solutions advocated - for example, extending the scope of interdiction to cover the trade and transport of bushmeat, continued protected area gazettement as well as promotion of initiatives to relieve pressure on the resource - have been consistent with traditional conservation strategies. While these solutions may prove effective in certain circumstances, the evidence thus far is not particularly encouraging, particularly in core production areas. more Where the proposed solutions have been ineffective, the grounds have often been socio-economic. Insufficient consideration is given to the social character of the production and trade in wild meat, its role in livelihoods and food security, as well as the feasibility of management options. Among other things, this has reduced the significance of conservation debates to the formulation of international development policy. Lack of progress on the management dimensions has likewise tended to marginalise the bushmeat issue from progress on forest governance. more top of page
Until recently, research on the bushmeat industry has mostly been driven by conservation priorities, and livelihoods concerns have tended to be secondary and contingent. But the importance of bushmeat in range state economies requires that policy development takes the human dimension fully into account. For this to be done effectively requires more information on such issues as: The nature and extent of the poverty linkages in bushmeat production and consumption, including the distribution of value in the bushmeat commodity chain The policy constraints which influence the trade, and their implications for the welfare of the poor The underlying governance issues, and the potential for these to be addressed within the wildlife sub-sector The record of development and conservation projects in achieving human welfare as well as conservation objectives, and promising developments in these areas The lessons which might be learnt from other disciplines as regards the reconciliation of social and conservation aims. This new research project provides an opportunity to explore the differences in perspective which arise when the human dimension is brought to the fore, and priority is given to livelihoods, economic and socio-cultural concerns. more

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