Hunting for Livelihood in Northeast Gabon: Patterns, Evolution, and Sustainability
Open accessAbstract
We suggest an ethno-biological approach to analyze the cultural and social drivers of hunting activities and assess sustainability in villages near Makokou, northeast Gabon, based on interviews with hunters, participatory mapping of hunting territories, and daily records of offtakes for 1 yr.Hunting in villages of northeast Gabon is practiced for both local consumption and cash income to cover basic family expenses.There appears to be no clear tendency to abandon subsistence hunting for commercial hunting as in other regions of Africa.Cultural and socioeconomic factors explain the temporal and spatial variation in hunting activities.Hunting increases in the dry season during circumcision ceremonies, when it is practiced mainly at > 10 km from villages, and decreases during the rainy season because most hunters are occupied by other economic activities.Degraded forest such as secondary regrowth supplies 20% of the animals killed and the greatest diversity of species at short distances from villages.Mature forest supplies the species with the greatest commercial value, e.g., red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), and is the preferred source of meat for traditional ceremonies.In the last 15 yr, hunting patterns have changed rapidly, mainly because of the spread of gun hunting, which had serious implications for the nature of offtakes.Our results suggest that there is potential to allow hunting for resistant species such as blue duiker (Cephalophus monticola) and African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus).Other species such as red river hog and small diurnal monkeys require more attention.Specific management systems could be discussed in participatory hunting management plans to identify possible solutions to maintain the population levels of the more critical species.
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Brush-tailed porcupine, pouched rat, blue and red duikers represent the majority of the catch in the Congo Basin, with blue duikers alone accounting often for about a third of the harvest.
“Brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus), pouched rat (Cricetomys eminii), blue (Cephalophus monticola) and red duikers (other Cephalophus spp.), represent the majority of the catch in the Congo Basin with blue duikers alone accounting often for about a third of the harvest (Kümpel 2006a, van Vliet 2008).”
From Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins (2011) · cites this paper as van Vliet 2008
In “Assessing hunting impact” (page unavailable), blue duiker accounts for 37.5% of recorded offtakes in Ntsieté, supporting the approximate one-third figure for that village. The paper does not establish that this proportion is common across the Congo Basin, or that the four named animals together make up most catches there; it instead identifies small diurnal monkeys and red river hog among Ntsieté’s other most-hunted species. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredRifles and shotguns are typically used for larger animals and arboreal species.
“Rifles and shotguns are typically used for larger animals and arboreal species (Coad 2007, Kümpel 2006a, van Vliet 2008)”
From Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins (2011) · cites this paper as van Vliet 2008
The Discussion says gun hunting increased opportunities to hunt larger animals and arboreal animals, including small diurnal monkeys. It does not identify rifles or shotguns specifically, so that detail is not supported by this source. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn Gabon, the small Blue duiker is significantly less abundant in remote forests within the boundaries of the Ivindo National Park than in hunted areas with similar vegetation cover close to the town of Makokou, while the larger Peter's and Bay duiker are less abundant or even depleted.
“For example, in Gabon, the small Blue duiker is significantly less abundant in remote forests within the boundaries of the Ivindo National Park than in hunted areas with similar vegetation cover close to the town of Makokou, while the larger Peter's (Cephalophus callipygus) and Bay duiker (C.dorsalis) are less abundant or even depleted (van Vliet 2008, van Vliet et al. 2007).”
From Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins (2011) · cites this paper as van Vliet 2008
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Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins
Nasi, R., Taber, A., & Van Vliet, N. (2011) · International Forestry Review · doi:10.1505/146554811798293872 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- van Vliet, N., & Nasi, R.
- Affiliations
- Center for International Forestry Research (ID)
- ORCID
- Nasi, Robert
- Venue
- Ecology and Society
- Publisher
- Resilience Alliance, Inc.
- Published
- 2008
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 1708-3087 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1548242428
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
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- FWCI
- 4.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Ecology and Society (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Digital Library Of The Commons Repository (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- International Fund for Agricultural Development
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
- Keywords
- subsistence hunting, commercial hunting, hunting sustainability, hunting grounds, forest degradation, secondary forest, mature forest, red river hog, blue duiker, traditional ceremonies, hunting management
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