Presentation by Daniel Cornélis at the symposium, "Innovative ways for conserving the ecosystem services provided by bushmeat" in the 51th Annual Meeting ATBC 2014 in Cairns, Australia.

1. Should African governments pull bushmeat trade
out the shadows in the Congo Basin?
ATBC Meeting, 20-24July 2014, Cairns,
Australia.
Daniel Cornélis(1), Nathalie van Vliet(2),
Sébastien Le Bel(1)
Robert Nasi(2), Alain Billand(1)
(1) Cirad – Agricultural Research Center for Development
(2) Cifor - Center for International Forestry Research

2. Introduction
Congo basin tropical forest block
- covers around 2 million sq. km.
- straddles over 6 countries
- hotspot of biodiversity

3. Introduction
Congo basin population
- Around 100 000 inhabitants
- Main protein source : hunting

4. Introduction
Increasing human impacts
- Logging
- Road network expansion
- Subsistence to commercial hunting

5. Bushmeat crisis in Central Africa !!!
www.bushmeat.net

6. From “bushmeat” to “bush meats” recognition
Strictly protected Partially protected UnprotectedSpecies protection status (Gabon) :

7. Strictly protected Partially protected UnprotectedSpecies protection status (Gabon) :
From “bushmeat” to “bush meats” recognition

8. Urban consumption represents only 6% of the overall consumption of bushmeat
X =
Estimates of bushmeat consumption in the Congo Basin : 4 million tons / year
Nasi, Taber & Van Vliet (2011) Empty forests, empty stomachs?

9. PopulationsizeN
Time T
ProductionP
Population size N
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)
0.5 K
Carrying capacity (K)

10. PopulationsizeN
Time T
ProductionP
Population size N
$2100 per kg
on the black market
in Beijing, China
by craftsmen or
factory owners
(Save The Elephants,
2014)
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species

11. PopulationsizeN
Time T
ProductionP
Population size N
Economic threshold
Unsustainability remains a hypothesis for common species
?
?

12. What are the options ?
250,000 km2
Potential alternatives to hunting ?
- Livestock breeding
- Livestock importation
- Mini-livestock
? ?

13. • There is a need to break this “ideological straitjacket” according to which man is
inherently bad for nature, particularly in Africa.
• Hunt for food is a basic right, and the sale is a legally supervised practice
worldwide
Shifting the Paradigm ...

14. 5 good reasons to legalize bushmeat trade of resilient species in village territories:
• Food security (protein source)
• Important source of income in rural areas
• Informal activities are shortfalls for communities and Governments (tax revenues)
• A legal production system is simpler to follow in terms of public health (zoonoses).
• Organizing community-based hunting of common species paves the way for the
implementation of practices favorable to the conservation of endangered species
Shifting the Paradigm ...

15. • Test new commercial approaches on common and resilient species
• in village hunting territories
• In forest concessions
• Adapt the legal framework (currently inadequate and subject to
interpretation):
• Inadequate (Open periods, game species, hunting methods, etc.).
• Subject to interpretation (eg not easy distinction between subsistence
hunting and commercial hunting)
Way(s) forward ?

16. Source:
World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision
Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the U.N. Secretariat
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Humandensity(perkm2)
Humanpopulation(millions)
Year
Central Africa - Human population prospects
High variant
Medium variant
Low variant
Expected and unexpected trends

17. Thank you for your attention!