Understanding Urban Demand for Wild Meat in Vietnam: Implications for Conservation Actions

Abstract

Vietnam is a significant consumer of wildlife, particularly wild meat, in urban restaurant settings. To meet this demand, poaching of wildlife is widespread, threatening regional and international biodiversity. Previous interventions to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable consumption of wild meat in Vietnam have generally focused on limiting supply. While critical, they have been impeded by a lack of resources, the presence of increasingly organised criminal networks and corruption. Attention is, therefore, turning to the consumer, but a paucity of research investigating consumer demand for wild meat will impede the creation of effective consumer-centred interventions. Here we used a mixed-methods research approach comprising a hypothetical choice modelling survey and qualitative interviews to explore the drivers of wild meat consumption and consumer preferences among residents of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our findings indicate that demand for wild meat is heterogeneous and highly context specific. Wild-sourced, rare, and expensive wild meat-types are eaten by those situated towards the top of the societal hierarchy to convey wealth and status and are commonly consumed in lucrative business contexts. Cheaper, legal and farmed substitutes for wild-sourced meats are also consumed, but typically in more casual consumption or social drinking settings. We explore the implications of our results for current conservation interventions in Vietnam that attempt to tackle illegal and potentially unsustainable trade in and consumption of wild meat and detail how our research informs future consumer-centric conservation actions.

Rainforest metropolis casts 1,000-km defaunation shadow

“…Both within and across species, large-bodied animals tend to be the most impacted by wildlife consumption, because they are intrinsically vulnerable to overharvesting (5,8) and preferred by harvesters (higher returns on effort) and consumers (8), many of whom covet rarity (6). Urban consumers can therefore maintain strong demand for a small number of increasingly rare species (6), and are willing to pay high prices for large individuals.…”

“…Much of this demand is being met by the expansion of farmed meat production, which has resulted in widespread land-use change (3). However, wild meat such as fish and bushmeat is also an important food for hundreds of millions of tropical consumers, from the poorest and most vulnerable people (4,5) to wealthier urban residents (6,7). The consumption of wild meat is causing pan-tropical defaunation, because exploited populations are widely harvested above the maximum sustainable yield (5,(8)(9)(10).…”

The Allure of the Illegal: Choice Modeling of Rhino Horn Demand in Vietnam

“…), in the demand for bushmeat in Vietnam (Shairp et al . ); and the demand for bear bile (Dutton et al . ).…”

Slow Loris Trade in Vietnam: Exploring Diverse Knowledge and Values

“…It is unclear whether the discourse originates from observed changes, from national environmental education propaganda, or if it has other reasons such as expectations or promises of economic support in the future from national programmes (e.g., national policy of hunger eradiation and poverty elimination) [McElwee, 2004]. Indeed, economic change may be more of a driver behind the recent decrease in urban wildlife meat consumption in Vietnam rather than NGO-led environmental education campaigns [Sandalj et al, 2016;Shairp et al, 2016]. However, our informants' thoughts about the future also echo a loss of relational values associated with these changes.…”

“…Most research on wildlife trade in Vietnam to date has focused on market surveys or bushmeat consumption surveys (which often miss slow lorises) [e.g., Nguyễn, 2003;Nguyễn and Nguyễn, 2008;Shairp et al, 2016], compilations of wildlife crime statistics [e.g., Beyle et al, 2014], or questionnairebased interviews more focused on determining species distributions [e.g., Đào Văn Tiến, 1985;Đặng Huy Huỳnh, 1998;Turvey et al, 2015]. Exceptions include recent studies of the trade in pangolins ( Manis spp.)…”