Potential for spatial management of hunted mammal populations in tropical forests

Mockrin, Miranda H.; Redford, Kent H.

doi:10.1111/j.1755-263x.2011.00173.x

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(119 reference statements)

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“…B ushmeat hunting is widely recognized as an important threat to the biodiversity of tropical forests (Milner-Gulland & Bennett, 2003), causing extirpation of target species (Bouche et al, 2010) and cascading effects on ecosystems (Peres & Palacios, 2007). Quantifying the extent of bushmeat hunting or consumption is important for several reasons, including quantifying the likely impact on hunted species (Fa & Brown, 2009), understanding the role that it plays in local diets (Golden et al, 2011) and evaluating the success of interventions aimed at managing hunting (Mockrin & Redford, 2011). The level of hunting in an area can be inferred from surveys of neighbouring bushmeat markets but identifying the provenance of meat is difficult (Allebone-Webb et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel approach for quantifying illegal bushmeat consumption reveals high consumption of protected species in Madagascar

Razafimanahaka

Jenkins

Andriafidison

et al. 2012

Oryx

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Information on the extent of bushmeat hunting is needed to assess the likely impact on hunted species, to provide information on the opportunity cost to local people of conservation, and to judge the efficacy of interventions at reducing pressure. However, where hunting is illegal, or socially unacceptable, respondents may not answer honestly to direct questions about hunting or consumption of bushmeat. We adapted a specialized method for investigating sensitive behaviours (the randomized response technique, RRT) and questioned 1,851 people in Madagascar about their consumption of six species, using either RRT or direct questions. For most species at most sites RRT and direct questions returned similar estimates of the proportion of the population who had consumed bushmeat in the previous year. However, RRT resulted in significantly higher estimates of bushmeat consumption in communities surrounding a protected area, where conservation activities made such questions sensitive. RRT has been predominately used in Europe and the USA; we demonstrate that it can provide a valuable approach for studying rule-breaking among people with poor literacy in low income countries. Between 12 and 33% of people across our sites had eaten brown lemur (Eulemur spp.), and 12–29% had eaten sifaka (Propithecus spp.) in the previous year. These results add to the growing body of evidence that hunting of protected species in Madagascar is a serious problem requiring urgent action. Conservation interventions to tackle bushmeat hunting will make questions about hunting or consumption more sensitive, increasing the need for researchers to use appropriate approaches for asking sensitive questions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel approach for quantifying illegal bushmeat consumption reveals high consumption of protected species in Madagascar

Razafimanahaka

Jenkins

Andriafidison

et al. 2012

Oryx

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“…Where hunting is unsustainable, it should be reduced. This may be achieved by offering environmental education about the role of forest fauna in maintaining ecological functions [111], by strengthening tenure rights of local and indigenous communities [112], by re-establishing traditional regulations and norms about hunting [113], by establishing no-take zones and quotas, and seasonal restrictions on species offtake [114], and by providing alternative sources of food and income generation [115,116].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees: The Oversight of Defaunation in REDD+ and Global Forest Governance

Krause

Nielsen

2019

Forests

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Over the past decade, countries have strived to develop a global governance structure to halt deforestation and forest degradation, by achieving the readiness requirements for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). Nonetheless, deforestation continues, and seemingly intact forest areas are being degraded. Furthermore, REDD+ may fail to consider the crucial ecosystem functions of forest fauna including seed dispersal and pollination. Throughout the tropics, forest animal populations are depleted by unsustainable hunting to the extent that many forests are increasingly devoid of larger mammals—a condition referred to as empty forests. Large mammals and birds, who often disperse seeds of larger more carbon-rich tree species, are preferentially targeted by hunters and the first to be depleted. Such defaunation has cascading ecosystem effects, changing forest structure and composition with implications for carbon storage capacity. Failure to address defaunation would therefore be a major oversight in REDD+, compromising its long-term viability. We carried out a desktop study reviewing REDD+ documents and national implementation efforts in Colombia, Ecuador, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Indonesia to assess the extent to which they address hunting and acknowledged the ecosystem functions of fauna. We also assessed sub-national REDD+ projects to determine whether they recognized hunting and if and how they incorporated hunting management and wildlife monitoring at the project level. Moreover, we assessed to what extent sub-national REDD+ projects addressed the long-term impacts of the sustainability of hunting on forest ecosystem function including carbon storage. We found that hunting, the risk of defaunation, and its effects have been ignored in the REDD+ policy process at both the international and national levels. At the project level, we found some reference to hunting and the risks posed by the loss of forest fauna, albeit only addressed superficially. Our results underline the fact that forest ecosystems are being reduced to their carbon content and that, despite the rhetoric of biodiversity co-benefits, fauna is not treated as a functional component of forests. This neglect threatens to undermine forest ecosystem function and service delivery as well as long-term forest carbon assimilation capacity and hence, ultimately, to compromise REDD+ objectives.

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“…Moreover, the variable presence of duikers across study sites at APDS demonstrates the need for additional research on spatial heterogeneity and habitat preferences of these species within APDS. While APDS was designed as a source–sink system, it may be that certain microhabitats within the park support lager populations of cephalophes, thus requiring a greater degree of protection to maintain stocks (see Mockrin & Redford, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Night and day: evaluating transect methodologies to monitor duikers in the Dzanga‐Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic

2016

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Across the Congo Basin, human hunting pressure poses the biggest threat to small‐ and medium‐bodied forest ungulates (genus Philantomba and Cephalophus, commonly known as duikers). The exploitation of these species has cascading effects on larger ecosystem processes, as well as on human subsistence practices. This study compares encounter rates and estimated population densities of duiker species, specifically Philantomba monticola (blue duiker) in the Dzanga‐Sangha Protected Areas (APDS), Central African Republic (CAR). Data were collected using direct observations of individual animals during diurnal (135 km) and nocturnal (150 km) transects in the APDS, with abundance estimates produced using DISTANCE software. Transect data demonstrate that within hunted forests similar to APDS, nocturnal rather than diurnal transects yield more individual observations of ungulates. Despite hunting pressure in the region, estimates presented for APDS suggest some of the highest density estimates reported for blue duikers in western and central Africa (58.6 blue duikers per km2). This study directly contributes current regional data on the status of duiker populations at APDS and in the larger Sangha Trinational Landscape (TNS, UNESCO). More broadly, we highlight the potential importance of nocturnal transect data to the development of adaptive management regimes in hunted forests.

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Potential for spatial management of hunted mammal populations in tropical forests

Cited by 12 publications

References 56 publications

Novel approach for quantifying illegal bushmeat consumption reveals high consumption of protected species in Madagascar

Novel approach for quantifying illegal bushmeat consumption reveals high consumption of protected species in Madagascar

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees: The Oversight of Defaunation in REDD+ and Global Forest Governance

Night and day: evaluating transect methodologies to monitor duikers in the Dzanga‐Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic

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