Bushmeat is important for household food security and income generation in many parts of Africa. However, high levels of bushmeat extraction can cause the extinction of threatened species, making bushmeat an unsustainable natural resource. Is it possible to manage the bushmeat trade to provide food and income whilst protecting threatened species? 

Bushmeat is the meat of wild animals, usually from forests. It is an important food source in both rural and urban areas. The sale of bushmeat also provides valuable income for rural households living in extreme poverty. However, over-exploitation can lead to the local extinction of threatened species. If too many species become threatened or extinct, bushmeat is unable to provide a sustainable source of income and food security for rural households.

Trade does not have to be unsustainable. Research from the Institute of Zoology (Zoological Society of London), UK, suggests that the bushmeat trade in Sekondi-Takoradi, western Ghana, is presently sustainable. Research findings include:

• The bushmeat trade is largely unregulated by state or local institutions. Local regulations are rarely enforced and trade appears to be a free market with no restrictions on sale or purchase between traders.
• There are five main groups in the bushmeat commodity chain: farmer hunters, commercial hunters, wholesalers, market traders and ‘chopbar’ (cafe) operators. Bushmeat is primarily traded from commercial hunters via wholesalers to chopbars and no one group has overall control of trade in this region.
• Urban chopbars sell the most bushmeat to the public, but rural hunters appear to make the most profit, indicating that the bushmeat trade is an important component of the rural economy.
• Species with high reproductive rates (robust species) that can survive in the varied agricultural mosaic landscapes in Sekondi-Takoradi (known as ‘farmbush’) supply the bushmeat trade. These species can cope with high levels of exploitation and make the trade sustainable.

Whilst the bushmeat trade is currently sustainable, it has nevertheless had a catastrophic impact on local wildlife populations. Vulnerable species with low reproductive rates appear to have become locally extinct because they could not cope with heavy exploitation in the past.

As long as only robust species are hunted, and vulnerable species are protected, the bushmeat trade is sustainable. However, effective management will be necessary to achieve and maintain this. The findings of this research provide several guidelines for bushmeat management policies:

• Initiatives that permit the sustainable hunting of robust species, but also protect vulnerable species, will allow communities to continue benefiting from the bushmeat trade whilst protecting biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services.
• Agricultural ‘farmbush’ landscapes have the potential to provide a significant and sustainable supply of bushmeat. These areas may be important components of bushmeat management policies.
• Management attention should focus primarily on those markets where vulnerable species (slow reproducers) are still being traded, since these species are likely to face rapid local extinction in the absence of effective regulation.
• Management interventions in the bushmeat commodity chain will be most effective when all interest groups are involved. This approach is most important when no single group controls the market, but it will be beneficial in all market conditions.
• All regulatory frameworks developed for the sustainable management of the bushmeat trade must be supported by effective law enforcement. 

Source(s):
‘Evidence for post-depletion sustainability in a mature bushmeat market’, Journal of Applied Ecology 42, 460-468, by G. Cowlishaw, S. Mendelson, and J.M. Rowcliffe, 2005
‘Structure and operation of a bushmeat commodity in chain in Southwestern Ghana’, Conservation Biology 19, 139-149, by G. Cowlishaw, S. Mendelson, and J.M. Rowcliffe, 2005
‘The Bushmeat Commodity Chain: patterns of trade and sustainability in a mature urban market in West Africa’, ODI Wildlife Policy Briefing 7, by G. Cowlishaw, S. Mendelson and J. M. Rowcliffe, 2004 Full document.

Funded by: Natural Environment Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council

id21 Research Highlight: 21 July 2005

Further Information:
Guy Cowlishaw
Bushmeat Research Programme
Institute of Zoology
Zoological Society of London
Regent’s Park
London NW1 4RY
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7449 6697
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7483 2237
Contact the contributor: guy.cowlishaw@ioz.ac.uk

Institute of Zoology, UK

Other related links:
The Bushmeat Research Programme

'Bushmeat in Africa: protecting wildlife and livelihoods'

Bushmeat Crisis Task Force

The Bushmeat Project