Importance, Cause And Effect Of Bushmeat Hunting
One conservation strategy to address bushmeat hunting in the Udzungwa Mountains is Community Based Wildlife Management (CBWM). However, this study concludes that CBWM is limited in its ability to reduce the causes of bushmeat hunting in the area, proposing that increasing the numbers of domestic animals within the more poverty stricken areas would be more effective in protecting wildlife against exploitation.
This analysis was based on “meat cropping” activities in the New Dubaga/Ulangambi Forest Reserve (NDUFR). Wildlife densities between this region and other, less commonly hunted areas indicate that the most relevant populations are significantly depleted, suggesting that hunting in this region is not sustainable.
Bushmeat appears to be of low importance in terms of use and contribution to protein intake of locals in the area. In fact, hunting is linked to poverty and low protein intake. Consequently, it appears that Community Based Wildlife Management (CBWM) has only limited capacity to reduce hunting based on these purposes and that conservation efforts in the area should focus more on protecting wildlife rather than community efforts.
Specifically, this report’s authors suggest that conservation efforts should attempt to shift use to domestic sources of meat by increasing the population of domestic animals among the poorest parts of the population.