Title
WCS Working Paper No. 47 - Conserving and eating wildlife in Africa
Author(s)
David S. Wilkie, Michelle Wieland
Published
2015
Abstract
Unsustainable hunting of wildlife for food risks: a) loss of an important source of dietary protein and income for many of the poorest families across sub-Saharan Africa (Bennett et al. 2007; Nasi et al. 2011), and b) emptying Africa’s forests and savannas of their wildlife and the loss of the important ecological roles these wildlife species play in the functioning and productivity of these ecosystems (Abernethy et al. 2013; Effiom et al. 2013; Lindsey et al. 2011; Nunez-Iturri & Howe 2007). Both the drivers of and solutions to unsustainable bushmeat hunting are largely known (Foerster et al. 2012; Forget & Jansen 2007; Laurance et al. 2006; Lindsey et al. 2013; Wilkie & Carpenter 1999; Wilkie et al. 2005; Wright et al. 2007), and they vary according to biome, market access and availability of substitutes, human population density and urbanization, and wildlife use rights and governance. This paper explores what we know current about the challenges to conserving and eating wildlife in Africa and offers some practical policies and practices to address these issues in both rural and urban contexts across Africa.
Keywords
bushmeat hunting, conservation
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