This presentation from the 2014 IUFRO World Congress examined the role of wildlife as a forest resource. This presentation was a part of the forest foods, medicines, and health session of the IUFRO World Congress. Experts explored the state of knowledge on how forests around the world provide products and services that maintain and improve human health and well being.

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

2. Ecological aspects

Extinction or extirpation of hunted species

Food chain feed–back and Alleeeffects

Potential pest outbreaks

Changes in pollination patterns

Changes in seed predation / dispersion patterns

Modification of vegetation dynamics and biomass fluxes

3. 
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

4. 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

5. Wildlife and public health
Emerging diseases

70% of human diseases are zoonoses

SRAS, Marburg, Lassa, Nypah

Ebola
Nutrition

Bushmeatnutrient dense food

Removing bushmeatfrom diet will likely increase anemia and stunting

6. A simplified bushmeat value chain
Hunters
Transporters
Retailers
Consumers, rural
Consumers, urban (incl. international)
LA
Resource
Wholesalers

7. The scaleof bushmeatuse and trade

5 million tonnes of bushmeatharvestedannuallyin the Congo Basin,

4 million tonnes in the Amazon Basin

Europe produces7,5 million tonnes of beefper year

Brazilproduces8,5 million tonnes of beefper year
Beef
Bushmeat

8. Most hunted species

9. Financial and economic evaluation of the bushmeat sector in Cameroon, Congo and Gabon (€/yr)
Cameroon
Congo-Brazza
Gabon
Financial profit
-Rural areas
-Urbanareas
-Export
9,8 million €
2,1 million €
7,6 million €
0,2 million €
42,3million €
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- oilGDP
0,14%
1,9%
0,42%
Gross economicbenefit(incl. self-consumption)
122 million €
108 million €
85 million €
Net economicbenefit(incl. opportunitycostof labour)
58 million €
5 million €
62 million €

10. 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

11. 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?

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. “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

16. “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

17. BushmeatResearch Initiative
www.cifor.org/ bushmeat