Hunting of Wildlife in Tropical Forests : Implications for Biodiversity and Forest Peoples

The study addresses the importance of
wildlife to people, and as a resource of nutritional,
economic, and socio-cultural values, and examines the
complexities of hunting in tropical forests. It also
expresses that today, such hunting is rarely sustainable,
because of declining forest areas, which decreases wildlife
populations; because of changes among human populations in
the tropical forests, who have increasingly become more
sedentary; because of cultural changes, where social taboos
against hunting certain species are breaking down, and
systems of traditional hunting territories are disappearing;
and, because environmental economic changes, prod the
commercialization of wildlife hunting in these areas. The
study explores the multifaceted, and complex problem of
hunting, suggesting solutions must be area specific, based
on detailed knowledge of hunting patterns, ecology, and
local socio-cultural conditions. Recommendations include:
establishment of national networks to manage protected, and
extractive reserves areas, to supply subsistence needs to
local hunting communities; establish land uses to support
protected/extractive reserves areas in partnership with
local communities; enact, comply, and enforce regulations to
prevent exploitation by timber companies' workers; and,
encourage participatory approaches among non-governmental
organizations, academic institutions, and the international
community at large.