Changes in Livelihood Practices, Strategies and Dependence on Bushmeat in Two Provinces in Gabon

Gils, E.J.T. Van; Ingram, V.J.; Iponga, Donald Midoko; Abernethy, Katharine

doi:10.1505/146554819825863753

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Current prohibitions are already difficult to enforce. 27 , 28 , 29 Tropical SW Ghana Moderate Moderate Moderate Food system could potentially adapt overall; however severe impacts would be felt by some. Economic shocks may be the biggest risk, for female traders/wholesalers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the risks of removing wild meat from global food systems

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has brought humanity’s strained relationship with nature into sharp focus, with calls for cessation of wild meat trade and consumption, to protect public health and biodiversity. 1 , 2 However, the importance of wild meat for human nutrition, and its tele-couplings to other food production systems, mean that the complete removal of wild meat from diets and markets would represent a shock to global food systems. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 The negative consequences of this shock deserve consideration in policy responses to COVID-19. We demonstrate that the sudden policy-induced loss of wild meat from food systems could have negative consequences for people and nature. Loss of wild meat from diets could lead to food insecurity, due to reduced protein and nutrition, and/or drive land-use change to replace lost nutrients with animal agriculture, which could increase biodiversity loss and emerging infectious disease risk. We estimate the magnitude of these consequences for 83 countries, and qualitatively explore how prohibitions might play out in 10 case study places. Results indicate that risks are greatest for food-insecure developing nations, where feasible, sustainable, and socially desirable wild meat alternatives are limited. Some developed nations would also face shocks, and while high-capacity food systems could more easily adapt, certain places and people would be disproportionately impacted. We urge decision-makers to consider potential unintended consequences of policy-induced shocks amidst COVID-19; and take holistic approach to wildlife trade interventions, which acknowledge the interconnectivity of global food systems and nature, and include safeguards for vulnerable people.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the risks of removing wild meat from global food systems

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Socio-economic surveys showed that in 2010 around 12% of all Gabonese families were likely to be directly involved in hunting and 11% were involved in some way in the wild meat trade (Abernethy and Ndong Obiang 2010 ). Although, as in Ghana, there is evidence of overall declining participation due to urbanisation (Fairet et al 2014 ; van Gils et al 2019 ), unlike Ghana, there are indications that seasonal workers take up hunting when moving home from the city during short breaks. In their survey of wild meat markets in Gamba, Thibault and Blaney ( 2003 ) suggested that the observed peaks in wild meat trade volumes in June and December were correlated with seasonal workers returning home.…”

Section: Applying the Framework In The Context Of Two Case Studies: Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19, Systemic Crisis, and Possible Implications for the Wild Meat Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa

McNamara

Robinson

Abernethy

et al. 2020

Environ Resource Econ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wild animals play an integral and complex role in the economies and ecologies of many countries across the globe, including those of West and Central Africa, the focus of this policy perspective. The trade in wild meat, and its role in diets, have been brought into focus as a consequence of discussions over the origins of COVID-19. As a result, there have been calls for the closure of China’s “wet markets”; greater scrutiny of the wildlife trade in general; and a spotlight has been placed on the potential risks posed by growing human populations and shrinking natural habitats for animal to human transmission of zoonotic diseases. However, to date there has been little attention given to what the consequences of the COVID-19 economic shock may be for the wildlife trade; the people who rely on it for their livelihoods; and the wildlife that is exploited. In this policy perspective, we argue that the links between the COVID-19 pandemic, rural livelihoods and wildlife are likely to be more complex, more nuanced, and more far-reaching, than is represented in the literature to date. We develop a causal model that tracks the likely implications for the wild meat trade of the systemic crisis triggered by COVID-19. We focus on the resulting economic shockwave, as manifested in the collapse in global demand for commodities such as oil, and international tourism services, and what this may mean for local African economies and livelihoods. We trace the shockwave through to the consequences for the use of, and demand for, wild meats as households respond to these changes. We suggest that understanding and predicting the complex dynamics of wild meat use requires increased collaboration between environmental and resource economics and the ecological and conservation sciences.

show abstract

“…Local people collect firewood and other natural resources such as edible wild plants, mushrooms, and honey from the forest and savannah. Hunting and fishing are supplementary subsistence activities to obtain animal protein (Matsuura & Moussavou, 2015; Van Gils et al, 2019). Owing to the area’s distance from the city, opportunities for cash income from the sale of agricultural crops (mainly plantain bananas) and forest products are scarce.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Elephant Conflict Around Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon: Socioeconomic Changes and Effects of Conservation Projects on Local Tolerance

Terada

Yobo²,

Moussavou³

et al. 2021

Tropical Conservation Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) poses a serious problem in Africa for both local livelihoods and elephant conservation. Elephant damage is the price local people pay for coexisting with this species, and is assumed to reduce tolerance for elephants. However, conservation-related projects, through the benefits they offer may enhance local tolerance toward elephants. This study aimed to examine how crop damage by elephants and the benefits gained from conservation activities affect local people’s tolerance toward elephants around Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in southwest Gabon based on long-term ethnographic research and interview surveys in two periods (2010 and 2019). Based on the results, crop damage by elephants had a significant negative impact on the local social economy, leading to a decrease in human population in the area and making local people highly resentful of elephants. However, in one of the villages where employment from research and conservation activities was concentrated, many acknowledged the benefits associated with wildlife and expressed high tolerance for elephants. These findings suggest that benefits from conservation activities can increase tolerance toward elephants, which is negatively affected by the crop damage they cause. However, it should also be noted that externally generated projects have limitations and drawbacks. It is important to establish a system in which the benefits of conservation are shared widely and distributed appropriately, and wherein income resources are diversified. Multisectoral interventions focusing on local socio-ecological vulnerability are needed to mitigate human-elephant conflict and advance the conservation of African elephants.

show abstract

Changes in Livelihood Practices, Strategies and Dependence on Bushmeat in Two Provinces in Gabon

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

Investigating the risks of removing wild meat from global food systems

Investigating the risks of removing wild meat from global food systems

COVID-19, Systemic Crisis, and Possible Implications for the Wild Meat Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa

Human-Elephant Conflict Around Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon: Socioeconomic Changes and Effects of Conservation Projects on Local Tolerance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About