Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Bushmeat supply and consumption in a tropical logging concession in northern Congo
Conservation Biology, Volume 23, No. 6, Year 2009
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Unsustainable hunting of wildlife for food empties tropical forests of many species critical to forest maintenance and livelihoods of forest people. Extractive industries, including logging, can accelerate exploitation of wildlife by opening forests to hunters and creating markets for bushmeat. We monitored human demographics, bushmeat supply in markets, and household bushmeat consumption in five logging towns in the northern Republic of Congo. Over 6 years we recorded 29,570 animals in town markets and collected 48,920 household meal records. Development of industrial logging operations led to a 69% increase in the population of logging towns and a 64% increase in bushmeat supply. The immigration of workers, jobseekers, and their families altered hunting patterns and was associated with increased use of wire snares and increased diversity in the species hunted and consumed. Immigrants hunted 72% of all bushmeat, which suggests the short-term benefits of hunting accrue disproportionately to "outsiders" to the detriment of indigenous peoples who have prior, legitimate claims to wildlife resources. Our results suggest that the greatest threat of logging to biodiversity may be the permanent urbanization of frontier forests. Although enforcement of hunting laws and promotion of alternative sources of protein may help curb the pressure on wildlife, the best strategy for biodiversity conservation may be to keep saw mills and the towns that develop around them out of forests. © 2009 Society for Conservation Biology.
Authors & Co-Authors
Poulsen, John R.
United States, Gainesville
University of Florida
Congo, Brazzaville
Wildlife Conservation Society
Clark, Connie J.
United States, Gainesville
University of Florida
Congo, Brazzaville
Wildlife Conservation Society
Mavah, Germain
Congo, Brazzaville
Wildlife Conservation Society
Elkan, Paul W.
Congo, Brazzaville
Wildlife Conservation Society
Statistics
Citations: 206
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01251.x
ISSN:
08888892
e-ISSN:
15231739
Research Areas
Food Security
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
Congo