Bushmeat in Gabon
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Bushmeat in Gabon December 2010 Katharine Abernethy Anne Marie Ndong Obiang 1 Part 1 Executive Summary Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 3 1.1 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR BUSHMEAT MANAGEMENT IN GABON ............................................... 3 1.2 SUMMARY OF HUNTER PRACTICES ............................................................................................... 6 1.3 THE COMMODITY CHAIN ............................................................................................................ 7 1.4 BUSHMEAT PURCHASE AND CONSUMPTION .................................................................................. 9 1.5 WILDLIFE ................................................................................................................................ 10 1.6 LEGALITY, MANAGEMENT, CONTROL AND SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................. 11 2 HUNTER PRACTICES ............................................................................................... 13 2.1 WHO IS HUNTING? .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 HOW ARE VILLAGERS HUNTING? ................................................................................................ 15 2.3 WHERE ARE VILLAGERS HUNTING? ............................................................................................. 17 2.4 WHAT IS BEING HUNTED? ......................................................................................................... 21 2.5 HOW MUCH BUSHMEAT IS HUNTED? .......................................................................................... 25 2.6 WHY ARE PEOPLE HUNTING? ..................................................................................................... 29 3 THE COMMODITY CHAIN ........................................................................................ 34 3.1 CURRENT LEGAL STATUS OF TRADE IN BUSHMEAT IN GABON .......................................................... 34 3.2 PRODUCTION OF COMMODITY BUSHMEAT: SALE FROM THE HUNTER ............................................... 35 3.3 TRADE IN BUSHMEAT: BUYING AND RESELLING ............................................................................. 44 4 CONSUMPTION OF BUSHMEAT ............................................................................... 59 4.1 ROLE OF WEALTH IN USE OF BUSHMEAT IN GABON ....................................................................... 59 4.2 URBAN AND RURAL CONSUMPTION OF BUSHMEAT ....................................................................... 65 4.3 ALTERNATIVE FOODS ................................................................................................................ 67 4.4 NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF BUSHMEAT IN RURAL DIETS ......................................... 68 4.5 PREFERENCES OF CONSUMERS ................................................................................................... 72 5 IMPACTS ON WILDLIFE ........................................................................................... 74 5.1 PREY SPECIES ........................................................................................................................... 74 5.2 IMPACTS ON PREDATOR SPECIES ................................................................................................. 79 5.3 WILDLIFE COMMUNITY CHANGES ............................................................................................... 81 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 82 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 86 8 ANNEXES............................................................................................................... 87 8.1 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 87 8.2 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 88 8.3 ANNEX A: SPECIES USED AS BUSHMEAT IN GABON 2000-2006. .................................................... 89 8.4 30 SPECIES RAREST IN THE COMMERCIAL TRADE ........................................................................... 93 8.5 CONSUMPTION OF PROTEIN BY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYED ................................................................. 94 8.6 HUMAN FOOTPRINT IN CENTRAL AFRICA: RELATIVE POSITION OF GABON ........................................ 95 2 Part 1 Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The National Strategy for Bushmeat Management in Gabon From 2000 to the present, the Gabonese government, through the Wildlife Department of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forests (Ministère des Eaux et Forêts) has been developing a National Strategy for Bushmeat Management. This process, originally supported as part of a regional initiative by the FAO, has involved both extensive discussions on policy and revision of the legislation in force and also support and coordination of a broad suite of research projects, some carried out by independent researchers and most involving DFC staff. The twin aims of the National Strategy for Bushmeat Management are: to safeguard food and economic security for those people reliant on bushmeat for their livelihoods, until alternatives are available, to ensure protection of viable wildlife populations for the future The two are inextricably linked, as without the long-term local survival of wildlife, there is no possibility of reliance on the resource, for either food or economic security. It is possible for some wildlife species to persist within an impoverished faunal community, and still provide enough meat for rural populations. Whilst this may be acceptable in some areas, it is not a desirable national outcome. The hope is that the national management strategy can enable both the survival of representative intact wildlife communities in some areas free of hunting, along with sustainable local use of the bushmeat resource elsewhere, whilst still safeguarding these wildlife communities as well as possible through catch limits and protection for vulnerable species. The following two pages give a schematic overview of the decisions taken to arrive at the need for development of a National Strategy (First decision tree) and the definition of the objectives of this Strategy (Second decision tree). Once the general framework of the Strategy was outlined, field research was carried out to clarify the current situation on the ground and develop a Strategy that can take into account the status quo and develop reasonable short term (dealing with the current situation), medium term (working towards alternative rural opportunities, urban education and species protection) and long term (sustainable harvests with labelled, legal product) goals. This remainder of the document synthesizes the research results of studies of bushmeat use in Gabon over the last decade. The majority of these studies were carried out in association with the Wildlife Department (Direction de la Faune) of the Ministry of Water and Forests. The bulk of the work is already published as doctoral or Masters degrees and some is published in the scientific literature, but the majority is available only in English. The original works, methods and analyses are made available through links and annexes whilst the report text concentrates on clear presentation of the main results. 3 Part 1 Executive Summary The first decision tree for the National Strategy Should the government be responsible for the food security of its citizens ? Gabon is a signatory of the Declaration of Rome on World Food Security, 13 November 1996. This declaration shows the YES engagement of Gabon to fight poverty and to assure the food security of all of its people. www.fao.org/WFS/index_en.htm All hunting Can it give people the right to use wildlife as a for food means to ensure their food security ? becomes NO illegal. The Declaration of Rome (1996) is clear on the need to YES protect biodiversity resources. Gabon is also signatory, among others, of the , Convention on BioDiversity of Rio, 1992 ; the African Convention of Algiers, 1968, and the COMIFAC, which demands sustainable use of all flora and fauna. All hunting and harvesting of wildlife muxt be carried out sustainably. www.cbd.int www.fao.org/docrep/W7414B/w7414b03.htm www.comifac.org All commercial Have citizens the right to use wild meat for use of money, as well as for food ? bushmeat NO is illegal True food security requires access to a varied diet. Bushmeat can be considered as a commercial product essential to the well being of poor YES communities who have little access to alternative sources of revenue. Nonetheless, their use of bushmeat must remain sustainable. www.fao.org/WFS/index_fr.htm Hunting and trade of bushmeat should be authorised under strict management controls for sustainability. The second decision tree is concerned with the terms for managing sustainably, 1. In respect of the state’s international engagements for sustainability, especially the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDG) 1 & 7 : Poverty reduction and promotion of environmental protection through sustainable use. http://www.un.org/english/millenniumgoals and the Convention on Biodiversity – Objective