Hunting the world's wildlife to extinction

The twin threats to wildlife across the world are habitat Actions to address the problems are proceeding apace across the tropical world. More eCective enforcement of loss and hunting, but the perception of which looms larger has fluctuated over time. In the last 10 years, protected areas, partnerships with logging companies in Congo, and bans on wildlife trade in Sarawak are all however, we have come to realize that hunting is the major threat across the tropics. Ironically, given the proving successful. However to make the leap from action at a local level to action across the political and success we have had in protecting certain key areas, these areas are increasingly becoming ‘empty forests’ development arena we need more information. It is clear that levels of oCtake from tall forests are grossly (Redford, 1992). The threat posed by hunting is especially great in tropical forests, where the productivity of edible unsustainable (Robinson & Bennett, 2000), and inadequate to support even subsistence consumption by growing wildlife is extremely low. Certain groups of species are especially vulnerable to hunting (e.g. McGowan & rural human populations, let alone a commercial market. But forest edges may be more productive (Barnes, 2002), Garson, Guest Editorial, this volume), but the current scale of hunting aCects the whole biotic community. and harvests of rodents and other edge species are possibly sustainable in some areas. How hunting can be Using conservative estimates of oCtake about 28 million bay duikers, 16 million blue duikers and more than 7 managed so that productive species can be harvested whilst not hampering eCorts to conserve the more million red colobus are taken from the forests of Central Africa every year (Wilkie & Carpenter, 1999; Fa & Peres, vulnerable species is unclear even in theory, let alone in practice. We know that many people, be they hunters, 2001). Extraction of wildlife from such forests is presently six times the sustainable rate (Bennett, 2002). traders or consumers, depend on the harvest of wildlife, but we have contradictory data on what proportion of To assess the current state of knowledge and identify areas for action two related symposia, on hunting and the harvest is consumed in rural communities, and how much enters urban markets. We do not have a good the conservation of exploited species, were held at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation understanding of how a decline in harvest rates will aCect people’s protein consumption or what would be Biology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, in July 2002. In addition to data on the scale of the problem, the economic impact of strict control of the commercial trade. There are no clear data on the ecological eCects the symposia included case studies of approaches that are starting to succeed. These symposia attracted a large caused by the large volume of unsustainable wildlife trade. There is not yet consensus on the extent to which audience and stimulated vibrant discussions. This issue of Oryx contains Forum pieces arising out of this debate. wildlife consumption is aCected by price, especially relative to domestic alternatives, nor on the complex interactions of the driving forces behind the commercial Elizabeth L. Bennett (Corresponding author) and John G. Robinson trade. Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York The answers to these questions will determine con10460, USA. E-mail: liz@lizbennett.org servation actions. While there is a broad recognition that E. J. Milner-Gulland Renewable Resources Assessment Group, there is a serious conservation problem, conservation Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, programmes have been hampered in their design and SW7 2BP, UK. implementation by the outstanding questions. The answers are not obvious (c.f. Ling et al., this volume), and while Mohamed Bakarr Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, 1919 M Street N.W. , Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, continuing our eCorts on the ground, we must simulUSA. taneously step up our eCorts, combining biological understanding (RowcliCe, this volume) with expertise from Heather E. Eves Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 710, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. other disciplines (Robinson & Bennett, this volume). We must turn scientific knowledge into much more wideDavid S. Wilkie Wildlife Conservation Society, 18 Clark Lane, Waltham, MA 02451–1823, USA. scale action through open discussion of the success and failures of diCerent approaches, and disseminate the information much more eBcaciously to governments Manuscript accepted for publication 6 August 2002.