The Bushmeat Crisis In Eastern Africa was a talk given to a visitng MSc class from University of Exeter at Naivasha\' Fisherman\'s Camp in January 2010.

1. The Bushmeat Crisis in Eastern Africa By: Iregi Mwenja Conservation Biologist A Presentation University of Exeter January 9th 2010

2. Definitions Bushmeat: the illegal, unsustainable trade in wildlife for meat and income Wild Meat: the legal, sustainable trade in wildlife for meat and income Game Meat: the legal, sustainable trade of farmed or ranched wildlife for meat and income

3. What Is Bushmeat? Bushmeat is meat that is illegally, commercially or unsustainably derived from wildlife including: Illegal methods of hunting (snares, unregistered guns) Illegal species (endangered, threatened, or otherwise protected) At unsustainable levels of exploitation Taken from unauthorized areas

4. Why is There a Bushmeat Crisis? Uncontrolled access to wildlife, rising demand, lack of economic alternatives, absence of substitutes, minimal capacity to enforce laws Have resulted in an unsustainable, illegal, commercial, trade in wildlife across Africa and the globe.

5. Why do we care? Overhunting wildlife for food can cause extinction – both local and global Rural communities become further impoverished Political instability as natural resource base eroded Ecosystem services compromised Loss of cultural heritage

6. A Global Challenge Local, subsistence vs long distance-commercial Urbanization and globalization Effective management engages many different governance structures Global response supported by simultaneous local action needed 1992 – 2002, US trade in wildlife and wildlife products increased by 75% Trade volume to China from nearly all continents has dramatically increased in recent years

8. 2001 Ebola outbreak in Gabon and Republic of Congo linked to gorillas;

9. Wolfe (2009) reports that HIV jumped from chimps to human 100 years ago in Cameroun through bushmeat

10. Links between SIVs and HIV and high infection rate among 26 species of primates commonly eaten in bushmeat trade.

11. Anthrax and Rift Valley Fever outbreak suspected here in Kenya

12. H1N1Ebola virus

13. Bushmeat in Africa Bushmeat trade is a significant source of protein and income for many poor communities in Africa Central Africa- 30 million consumers in consuming ~ 2.5 million metric tons of meat annually West Africa- has already extirpated many large mammal species leaving ‘weed sp.’ East Africa- dramatic increases in trade and its commercialization lately Southern Africa = growing bushmeat trade particularly in areas of civil unrest

14. Bushmeat is a Band-Aid The commercialization of bushmeat is a temporary solution to numerous problems caused by external driving forces. Dealing with those causal factors immediately will be the only solution for both wildlife and human communities. © RG Ruggiero

15. Bushmeat: End of the Wild* Weedy Species - plants, animals and other organisms that thrive incontinually disturbed, human-dominated environments (West Africabushmeat trade: largely cane rats and blue duikers harvested from secondary growth landscapes – very little wildlife remaining). Relic Species - cannot thrive in human-dominated environments -whichnow nearly cover the planet and require heavy management (prairie dogs, elephants, pandas, California condor…) Ghost Species - organisms that cannot or will not be allowed to surviveon a planet with billions of people (East Asian giant soft-shell turtle, tigers, tuna, swordfish, wolves…) Extinction Debt: In the past century we have accumulated a vast extinction debt that will be paid, with interest, in the century ahead…over the next hundred years, upwards of half of the earth's species are destined to become relics or ghosts, while weedy species will constitute an ever-growing proportion of the plants and animals around us. *Meyer, S. 2006. End of the Wild. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

16. Wildlife forensics DNA Barcoding for bushmeat

18. rising poverty,

19. high food prices,

20. political instability,

24. Site Level Assessments

25. Multiple methods applied

26. Aim to identify and evaluate current bushmeat trade,

28. Inadequate enforcement of laws, capacity and technology

29. Inadequate collaboration among stakeholders

30. Decreasing wildlife population

31. Common drivers

33. Bushmeat solutions - BEAN BEAN Field Officers initiate projects Kenya: wildlife education / protein-income alternatives Kenya: wildlife education / training game scouts for monitoring Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania/Southern Sudan: law enforcement capacity building Uganda: protein/income alternatives Tanzania: protein alternatives

34. Kenya findings Assessment findings At least 50% wildlife decline in last 30 years Bushmeat No. one direct cause of wildlife loss Economic incentives for private land owners to protect wildlife outside PAs is essential Bushmeat trade supports unmet needs for income and protein among the poor

35. National wildlife populations trends 19 Total wildlife populations for all parks with matching ecosystem counts. The parks include Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Amboseli and Nairobi. (Western, et, al 2006)

36. Bushmeat utilisation in Kenya 20 ... Stakeholders Reponses

37. Pertinent issues Data from long-term bushmeat monitoring lacking ..... Difficult to determine % contribution of bushmeat poaching to the overall decline in wildlife population Demand for bush meat will continue to rise, leading to more decline in wildlife and lose of food and livelihoods sources “Use it or lose it” - Theoretical justification for conservation is of little use if it cannot translate into tangible benefits to people hosting wildlife. This situation is exacerbated by the increasing costs of living with wildlife – conflict, disease, 21

38. My Project

39. Why Tsavo West Degradation of the L. Jipe and its catchment resulted in; Loss of lake & basin’s ecological and socio-economic values Collapse of the fisheries industries in last decade The problem is exacerbated; high population growth rate - immigration High squatter population Human wildlife conflict Drought

40. Project goal Overall Objective Reduce the illegal trade in bushmeat in Taveta and the surrounding areas Specific Objectives To raise awareness on the illegal bushmeat trade. To build the capacity of local CBOs on fish farming. To enhance access to competitively priced alt. protein Develop customized bushmeat education materials Train environmental educators on bushmeat education

41. Key activities Training on alternative sustainable livelihoods Bushmeat education outreach Training for Bushmeat educators Development of customized bushmeat education materials for Tsavo Initiating alternative protein projects – fish farming and chicken production

42. Achievements so far Training workshop on livelihoods and institutional capacity strengthening for 10 CBOs Five Fish farming project initiated/ rehabilitated. Three CBOs have already received fish fingerlings Bushmeat awareness outreach activities done 200 copies of Swara donated to schools Bushmeat play developed and played on Kenyatta day

43. Ongoing Activities Fish pond rehabilitation in Mrabani, Mahoo, Ndarajani and Kiwalwa Training for bushmeat Educators Chicken vaccination against ND More education outreach More education materials Construction of a hatchery

44. Challenges High cost of constructing/rehabilitating concrete fish ponds High cost of fingerlings only available in Mombasa 350 km away Inadequate of information on the implementation conservation and development projects

45. What you can do Never buy wildlife products without proper certification Take precaution against zoonotic diseases Spread the word Read Bushmeat in Kenya blog regularly Support conservation initiatives ‘Adopt’ an ex-poacher and livelihood project

46. Acknowledgement BEAN Team Dr Heather Eves Dr Sarah Burgess-Herbert High Tech high EAWLS