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

1. Economic value of bush meat and
poverty alleviation in the Amazonian
region
Sarah Hernandez, PhD., Pierre Rialland
Maria Paula Quiceno, Daniel Cruz
Nathalie Van Vliet, Robert Nasi
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services of bushmeat, ATBC
2014, Cairns, Australia

2. Outline
• Rational of the study
• Presentation of the methodological aspects
• Results
• Issus for discussion
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bushmeat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia

3. Rational of the study (I)
• Contribute to the debate on the economic value of
ecosystem services provided by tropical forest
– Role of bush meat as part of ecological process (regulating
services)
– Bush meat as a contributor to human well-being (provisioning
services).
• Bring some insights on the economic role of bush meat
(provisioning services, market organisation, economic
growth)
• Provide the basis for good management practices
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bushmeat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia

4. Methodological aspects: Main
questions (III)
• What is the total production of bush meat in the study area?
• What is the contribution of self-consumption of bush meat?
• What is the contribution of (illegal) trade of wild meat at the regional level?
• What is the net profit from the illegal trade at the regional and at the individual
level?
• What are the main factors of wealth generation in the region?
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bush meat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia

5. Methodological aspects (II)
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bushmeat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
Utility function (hunters, market sellers, restaurants)
πj= b Σ Pi Qi + (1-b) Σ Pi Qi – Σ C (Qi )
Economic rent
from bush meat
trade
Economic value of
subsistence
Cost associated with
Wild meat activities
Semi structured interviews
55 hunters (48%)
15 market sellers (44%)
28 restaurants (61%)
115 hunters
34 market sellers
46 restaurants

6. Total production of bush meat
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bush meat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
(55 hunters) 6 tons per month
114 kg per hunter per month
(115 potential hunters)13 tons per month
US$ 26,000 per month
US$ 55,000 per month
% of total value: Brazil 42% Colombia 22% Peru 36%
Armadillo (Dasypus sp)
Giant (Priodontes maximus)
Paca (Cuniculus paca)
Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)
Collared peccary (Pecari tajacu)
White lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari)
Amazonian tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria)
Curassow (Crax globulosa)
Perdix (Crypturellus sp. Tinamou)
Grey brocket deer (Mazama americana)
Red brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira)
Grey-winged Trumpeter (Psophia crepitans)
Black agouti (Dasyprocta fuliginosa)
Yellow-spotted River Turtle (Podocnemis unifilis)
Spix's guan (Penelope jaqcuacu)
Red howler monkey (Aloautta seniculus)

7. Economic value of hunters’ self-consumption
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Brazil Colombia Peru
Value of self-
consumption
(US$)
1435,4 2583,6 1806,3
Value of hunting
activities (US$)
11041,56 5871,82 9506,78
Brazil: 13%
Colombia 44%
Peru 19%
Total value of the region
US$6,000 per month (55 hunters)
US$109 per hunter per month
Self-consumption (1,4 tons or 25kg per
hunter per month) = Upper threshold
admitted by law.
By law subsistence = feed the family ≠
the surveys showed subsistence =
poverty alleviation
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Brazil Colombia Peru
Total production
dedicated to self-
consumption (Kg)
340 652 419
Total production
(Kg)
2618,05 1481,2 2203,3

8. Hunters economic rent from illegal trade of wild meat
Brazil Colombia Peru
Economic Rent from
trade (US$)
9606 3288 7700 20595
Total production
dedicated to trade
(Kg)
2277,7 829,5 1784,7 4891,8
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Net profit per month
Costs associated with hunting activities per month,
dollars
Economic rent (per month, dollars)
Brazil 87%
Colombia 56%
Peru 81%
Total Biomass dedicated to trade: 5
tons
US$21,000 per month (55 hunters)
US$381 per hunter per month
Total costs of hunting activities: US$3,000
per month
Total net profit for the region
US$18,000 per month

9. Summary economic value of wild meat for hunters
Total revenue from forest exploitation and fishing activities : US$ 3,130 per month
Illegal trade represents 7 times the revenues from legal activities
Total costs of hunting activities: US$2,530 per month

10. Market sellers’ net profit
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bush meat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
Economic rent from trade
US$33,000 per month
15 market sellers
US$2,500 per market seller per month
0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000 50 000 60 000 70 000
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
Brazil Colombia Peru
Total Cost per month
(US$)
55758 169 109
Total revenues per
month (US$)
65186 3692 20694
Net profit per month
(US$)
9 428 3 522 20 586

11. Restaurants’ economic rent
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bush meat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
3914
4830
5.550,47
402,52
-1.161,13-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
Brazil Colombia Peru
Net profit from wild meat per month (US$)
Net profit from other economic activities (US$)
Total economic rent: US$11,000 per
month
Total costs of acquisition of wild meat
US$3,000
Total net profit : US$8,000 per month
Net revenues from chicken’s plates
Brazil: US$3,181
Colombia: (-)US$4,808
Peru (-) US$9,123
Net revenues from fish’s plates
Brazil US$6,818
Colombia (-)US$3,415
Peru (-) US$8,260

12. Economic value of wild meat
throughout the trade chain
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bush meat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
Hunters' rent
per month
(US$)
Market sellers'
rent, per month
(US$)
Restaurants'
rent, per month
(US$)
Peru 7700 20694 6731
Colombia 3288 3692 4766
Brazil 9606 687 0
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000US$57,000 per month
US$685,968 per year
US$7,220 per stakeholder per year
Gross domestic product
Benjamin constant
US$2,290 per capita(2011)
Colombia
Municipality of the amazon
US$2,987 (2011)
Peru
US$268 per capita (2013)

13. Discussion
• Wild meat has a direct contribution to poverty
alleviation
– Self-consumption
– Trade
• Wild meat has a direct contribution to wealth
generation (income and investments) – Feed equally
the shadow economy and the formal economy
• Economic rent = cost of the externalities
• Cost of illegality: high in Brazil, unseen in Peru and
Colombia But need to be assessed.
Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services provided by bushmeat,
ATBC 2014, Cairns, Australia
Opportunity cost
Sunk costs for hunting activities

14. Regulating
services
Provisioning services
A
B
C
Governance and institutions
Incentives
Knowledge base
Source: T. Elmqvist et al. 2010
Rational of the survey (III)
Potential trade-offs between provisioning and cultural services (bush meat) and
regulating services (resilience and complexity of forest ecosystem)

15. Innovative ways for conserving the
ecological services of bushmeat, ATBC
2014, Cairns, Australia
www.cifor.org/bushmeat
FORESTS, WILDLIFE & NUTRITION
Thanks
sarah-hernandez-p@hotmail.com