Campesino hunting and conservation in Latin America

Abstract

Hunting presents a paradox for biodiversity conservation. It is both a problem and a solution to species declines and poverty. Yet, conservation scientists hold different assumptions about the significance and sustainability of hunting based on the cultures and identities of hunters. In Latin America, conservationists largely sort hunters as either indigenous or campesino. Indigenous hunters are often characterized as culturally driven stewards of wildlife sustainability. Campesino hunters, by contrast, are described as peasants—cultureless, uneducated, and uncaring toward wildlife sustainability. Although such ethnically fueled hunting discourse promotes hunting research, campesino hunters remain underrepresented in most comparative hunting reviews. Moreover, there are no targeted syntheses on the current state of knowledge about campesino hunting, nothing to guide conservation research and practice with and for the largest group of hunters in Latin America. We reviewed 334 articles published from 1937 to 2018 in English (55%) and Spanish (45%)—mostly published in 145 peer‐reviewed journals—on the meanings, motivations, and sustainability of campesino hunting in Latin America. Although studies spanned 17 countries, 7 ecosystems, and >75 indigenous and nonindigenous demographics in 30 research contexts, they predominantly focused on nonindigenous campesinos for species‐specific conservation and protected area management in tropical broadleaf forests of Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. Authors used 12 methods to collect campesino hunting data, primarily interviews, surveys, and questionnaires, and drew from 10 local and traditional knowledge themes about wildlife trends and uses. Eighteen drivers, 14 constraints, and 10 conflicts—mainly subsistence, income, ethics, regulations, and crop or livestock protection—shaped whether campesino hunters pursued 799 species, 70% of which were least concern species. Yet, only 25 studies (8%) empirically assessed sustainability. Our results show the need for increased interdisciplinary and geographic engagement with campesino hunting across Latin America.

Wild Meat Is Still on the Menu: Progress in Wild Meat Research, Policy, and Practice from 2002 to 2020

“…It was already understood in 2002 that many factors can influence the sustainability of hunting in a given area. Hunting may be sustainable for some species but not others (28), with long-lived, slow-reproducing species generally thought to be the most vulnerable to overexploitation. When hunting is conducted in remote areas using traditional hunting methods, and when good source areas are located nearby, species can persist even if they are sensitive to hunting (29).…”

“…Wild meat research has been biased toward forests in the Neotropics and Afrotropics (214), buffer-zone settlements near PAs, and indigenous hunters (28). Quantitative estimates of hunting offtakes and wild meat consumption remain rare in Asia, Oceania, and some savannah and grassland biomes.…”

Perspectivas Del Manejo De La Fauna en América Latina

“…De otra parte, la importancia de la fauna silvestre como fuente de proteínas para las poblaciones rurales amazónica, especialmente indígenas y ribereños no puede ser soslayada. Después de los estudios pioneros de Pierret & Dourojeanni (1965, 1967 en la Amazonia peruana, se han realizado docenas de investigaciones similares en todos los países amazónicos, todas las cuales confirman que aún en la actualidad la caza con fines de alimentación rural sigue siendo de importancia capital (van Vliet et al, 2014;Francesconi et al, 2018;Petriello & Stronza, 2019). Si bien es pertinente hacer todo lo posible para impedir el tráfico ilegal de pieles, cueros y animales vivos, no es posible ni deseable obstaculizar la alimentación rural, pero, ésta debe obedecer a pautas de manejo, lo que no ocurre actualmente.…”

Contribution of the Mutis Timau Protected Forest to Community Income in the Forest Management Unit of South Central Timor Regency, Timor Island, Indonesia

“…In tropical forests, hunted meat is the choice and the only source of protein for human (Junior et al, 2010). However, hunting carries a paradox for biodiversity conservation and is a problem as well as solution for species decline and poverty (Petriello & Stronza, 2019). Jurnal Manajemen Hutan Tropika, 26(2), 105-113, August 2020EISSN: 2089-2063 process the commodity at a better sale price.…”