Frameworks Regulating Hunting for Meat in Tropical Countries Leave the Sector in the Limbo

Abstract

Despite restrictive legal frameworks, hunting for meat is a reality in tropical countries. In this policy paper, we argue that formal regulations are ill adapted to the contexts in which they should be applied and are characterized by gaps and contradictions that maintain the sector in a limbo. We use contemporary examples from Latin America and Africa described in detail in publications ranging from 2015 to 2019, to illustrate the need for legal reforms that clarify the rights to sell surplus of meat and align land tenure rights with wildlife use rights to suggest a new definition of subsistence hunting which accounts for the realities of communities from different cultural backgrounds.

Wild meat consumption in tropical forests spares a significant carbon footprint from the livestock production sector

“…The implementation of such programs could be a critical component in developing hygiene standards and routines for meat market surveillance in many countries, particularly in Africa, thereby contributing to SDG 3. Note, however, that other reforms of the wild meat sector are urgently needed in tropical countries and should be pursued concomitantly 62 .…”

Wild meat hunting and use by sedentarised Baka Pygmies in southeastern Cameroon

“…This is because the sale of surplus meat can provide much needed income. However, although sale of wild meat is tolerated by many governments, the existing legal frameworks stigmatise hunters as criminals ( Van Vliet et al, 2019 ). Thus, in the Cameroonian context, regulations on protected animals do not take into account the reality of actual hunting practices by local people.…”

Wild Meat Is Still on the Menu: Progress in Wild Meat Research, Policy, and Practice from 2002 to 2020

“…Increased knowledge of the environmental implications of wild meat hunting and use is not, however, universal; where it has been investigated, knowledge of its impacts was variable in both urban Vietnam (149) and rural Tanzania (150). Public knowledge of hunting laws and regulations at the local level (where management challenges are most acute) were also found to have been low (107,137), although this is not helped by the presence of often complex and contradictory laws (151). Although numerous research outputs exist about the issue in Latin America and Africa, authors with expertise in these regions perceive lower general awareness of the issue than those working in the Asia-Pacific region (Figure 2).…”

“…Although most nations with hunted and traded wildlife have legal frameworks defining which species can be hunted within a given place, time, and circumstance, these laws are frequently not clearly written, evidence-based, or well enforced (151). Governance of the wild meat trade could be made more effective by (a) ensuring that law enforcement agencies have the skills, legitimate authority, and financial resources needed to enforce national laws, (b) tackling corruption, (c) revising unsuitable legislation that is often derived from sport hunting regulations in temperate countries but applied to hunting for food and income in tropical countries, and (e) ensuring that wildlife laws respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities and support their self-determined management regimes (134,151,218,219). Moving forward, if nations are to preserve hunted species from depletion and maintain the nutritional, economic, and cultural values they provide to wildlife-dependent communities, issues with hunting laws will need to be addressed and innovative and inclusive management options must be explored; otherwise, further funds poured into law enforcement are likely to be ineffective.…”