Food or slaughter? Bushmeat fuels wildlife debate

Here are some excerpts form a recent article on trying to ban “bushmeat” in Africa . Bushmeat by the way is basically meat that is derived from killing local animals, often including ones that are endangered:

“Environmentalists say the hunting and trade of endangered animals from the world's tropical forests must be reduced if rare primates and other species are to be saved from extinction.

Some campaigners want a total ban on bushmeat or at least on its commercial trade. This would allow local people to hunt only fast-breeding, non-endangered species to feed their families.

But a report published on Tuesday said such blanket bans would fail and, if enforced, deprive poor families living in forest regions of much-needed nutrition and cash earnings.”

I have to say that I would agree with that report. As an environmentalist, I don’t think it is necessarily our job to get involved in the lives of indigenous peoples. Another problem that mimics this one is whaling. We need to go after countries like Japan and Norway who are killing several thousand whales (some of them endangered, some just barely off the list). We do not need to go after small indigenous tribes who want to kill one whale a year. They have been doing this for centuries, and except in extremely rare cases, they whale in a sustainable way – they only kill one or two whales a year, and it is to feed the village, get whale oil for lanterns, blubber for warmth and food etc.

Similarly, there is a portion of bushmeat in Africa that is killed and eaten by locals. They do this because they are extremely poor and undernourished – whoa re we to tell them they can’t kill something and eat it to prevent themselves form starving? What we DO need to do is cut down on the bushmeat trade that is shipping those same animals to other countries. No flip side of this argument is that many locals make money by doing this, and it is helping to lift them out of poverty. I think that is a good place to draw the line. According to the article,

“A survey a few years ago estimated 70-90 tonnes of bushmeat a month were being sold in Yaounde 's four main markets. Across West and central Africa, the trade is worth as much as $200 million, and $175 million in Latin America 's Amazon basin.”

If you are killing bushmeat to survive, or berceuse you have been doing it for centuries, I think we should say “OK.” If you are doing it to try and get rich – tough luck.