Highlights
Bringing degraded landscapes back to life 02
Over the last few years, unprecedented political will and financial support has prompted many countries to restore degraded lands for better productivity, conservation, and to meet internationally agreed climate, development and biodiversity goals.
Latin America 02
What it really takes to restore degraded lands
How much wildlife is being taken from the world’s forests and grasslands? By whom? What proportion is consumed locally, and how much is sold to satisfy urban appetites? And how are financial profits from the trade affecting local economies? For over 20 years, experts at CIFOR have sought to legitimize the global debate around wild meat by tracking down concrete answers to these questions.
In December 2017, CIFOR brought its expertise to the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP21) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the form of a guidance for a sustainable wild meat sector in tropical and sub-tropical countries. CBD approached CIFOR to prepare recommendations based on its extensive research and analysis. A 2016 CBD Decision draws on a ‘sustainable wild meat roadmap’ presented by CIFOR scientists at the World Forestry Congress the previous year.
CIFOR is also investigating the links between wild meat and zoonotic diseases like Ebola, and estimating what may happen to ecosystems and the people who depend on them if certain species are poached to extinction.
“Banning hunting is not an option – it would put the poorest populations at risk,” explains John E. Fa, a professor at Manchester Metropolitan University and CIFOR Senior Research Associate. He led a study in 2015 that demonstrated, for the first time, how hunting contributes to the food security of people living in the deep forests of central Africa. “The paradox is that in order to conserve biological resources, you need to use them – but use them sustainably.”
Fa (and Coad?) presented the guidance at CoP21, where it was endorsed. CBD member countries will continue to iron out the details over the coming months. The full-length technical report will be released in late 2018.
How much wildlife is being taken from the world’s forests and grasslands? By whom? What proportion is consumed locally, and how much is sold to satisfy urban appetites? And how are financial profits from the trade affecting local economies? For over 20 years, experts at CIFOR have sought to legitimize the global debate around wild meat by tracking down concrete answers to these questions.
In December 2017, CIFOR brought its expertise to the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP21) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the form of a guidance for a sustainable wild meat sector in tropical and sub-tropical countries. CBD approached CIFOR to prepare recommendations based on its extensive research and analysis. A 2016 CBD Decision draws on a ‘sustainable wild meat roadmap’ presented by CIFOR scientists at the World Forestry Congress the previous year.
