WRITTEN QUESTION E-0681/04 by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission. Bushmeat — poverty assessments.
Date: 2004-03-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Africa, economic analysis, game meat, nutritional needs, poverty

C 88 E/704

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0724)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0677/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Bushmeat: timber concession wildlife management

(9 March 2004)

Following the European Parliament’s support for the De Rossa report on Petition 461/2000, will the
Commission support measures to introduce timber concession wildlife management in Central and West
Africa by the industry and conservation NGOs? Does the Commission propose to take any specific steps to
promote sustainable wildlife management by logging companies?

(2004/C 88 E/0725)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0678/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Bushmeat (cid:1) Biodiversity Action Plan

Following the European Parliament’s support for the De Rossa report on Petition 461/2000 and the 2000
Biodiversity Action Plan, what investments have been made to support improved management of wildlife
to achieve Biodiversity Action Plan targets?

(2004/C 88 E/0726)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0681/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Bushmeat (cid:1) poverty assessments

Following the European Parliament’s support for the De Rossa report on Petition 461/2000, will the
Commission fund research into the importance of bushmeat/wildlife in poor people’s livelihoods,
particularly in West and Central Africa?

What action has been taken by the Commission to integrate criteria into its poverty assessments and
country strategy papers that take account of the importance that wildlife/bushmeat has in the livelihoods
of the poor in West and Central African countries? Will the Commission publish these criteria? And will
measures be taken to integrate these considerations into existing strategies and assessments?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0676/04, E-0677/04, E-0678/04 and E-0681/04
given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2004)

With respect to Country Strategy Papers, the Mid Term Review currently being conducted requires, for
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, a Country Environmental Profile (CEP) as an annex to the
including those of
review documents. This CEP should identify important environmental
biodiversity and bushmeat and thus be a basis for further dialogue with the partner country in order to
address the problems. Specific criteria remain to be decided.

issues,

The Commission does not carry out its own poverty assessments, but uses those carried out by other
donors or national governments.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/705

It is important to note that the programming of resources, in particular for the European Development
Fund (EDF), had already been largely completed when Parliament adopted the De Rossa report, and
accordingly the margins for action were rather limited. In the 9th EDF, limited amounts were allocated
specifically to the environment. The policy for resource allocation is focused on budgetary support and
support for sectoral programmes. Specific research projects on the problems quoted in the written
question would need to be examined from this perspective. Furthermore, within the EU’s 6th Framework
Programme on Research and Technological Development (FP6) one of the work programmes specifically
concerns biodiversity, and could therefore be used for research on bushmeat issues. Details of this policy,
and of eligibility for participation, are available on (http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/iscp/index_en.html).

There are, however, some responses to the issues raised within the framework of actions ongoing or
starting soon: in particular, the programmes for alternatives to poaching (the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon),
financing of specific market and setting surveys and establishing an observatory, Ecopas (Benin, Niger,
Burkina Faso) and Ecofac (six central Africa countries). Concerning the latter, the preparation of the 4th
phase is in hand and will take some of these aspects specifically into account.

Furthermore, the recent call for proposals under the environment budgetline invited in particular proposals
that are relevant to actions in the biodiversity action plan for economic and development cooperation.

The Commission agrees that timber concession wildlife management must form a key part of the response
to the bushmeat crisis. For this reason the Commission is supporting the World Wide Fund for Nature
with a EUR 1,4 million grant to work in Gabon with private forest concessionaires to find ways of
controlling hunting and poaching in private forest concessions. In addition, the Forest ecosystems in
Central Africa (Ecofac) programme has begun to define protocols for collaboration with the private sector
to address the unsustainable hunting of bushmeat in industrial forest concessions.

(2004/C 88 E/0727)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0682/04

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Bushmeat: Development Strategies

Following the European Commission’s support for the African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance
Ministerial Declaration, what discussions has the Commission held with the governments of Cameroon and
Ghana, concerning the implementation of the indicative actions relating to bushmeat? And what support
does the Commission plan to provide to help these countries implement the indicative actions relating to
bushmeat and integrate them into their development strategies?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2004)

Indicative actions relating to bushmeat form part of the declaration adopted at the launch of the Africa
Ministerial Process for Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) in Yaoundé in 2003. The main
objective of this declaration is to build commitment to strengthen forest sector governance and combat
illegal logging. As yet, the Commission has not held discussions with the governments of Ghana and
Cameroon regarding the specific implementation of indicative actions relating to bushmeat set out in the
declaration. No specific provision of support outside existing co-operation is foreseen to help countries
implement indicative actions relating to bushmeat and integrate these into their development strategies.