A new factsheet produced by the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) calls for governments and NGOs to integrate wildlife conservation initiatives with sustainable trade and consumption.
Drawing on a research paper by CIFOR’s Robert Nasi and University of Copenhagen’s Nathalie Van Vilet, the factsheet states that though the annual extraction of over 5.5 million tons of bushmeat each year from the Congo and Amazon basins could pose “a serious threat to wildlife species,” it also “provides important livelihood and socioeconomic benefits.”
An excerpt of the document:
It is important to recognize that products and services derived from wildlife, whether from consumption, health-related recreation, or regulation of natural threats, can provide strong incentives to conserve biodiversity. Wildlife management can be viewed more broadly as a mechanism to promote biodiversity conservation, while simultaneously meeting human needs.
Read the full factsheet at foris.fao.org.