Tackling Wildlife Consumption in Urban Tropical Africa

解决热带非洲城市野生动物消费问题

• 批准号: MR/W006316/1
• 负责人: Daniel Ingram
• 金额: $ 149.29万
• 依托单位: University of Kent
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FW006316%2F1
• 关键词: Tackling; Wildlife; Consumption; Urban; Tropical

Across the tropics, which contain the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, the meat of more than 2000 species of wild animal are consumed (known as 'wildmeat'). In many rural areas, people living close to wildlife rely on hunting wild animals as an essential source of food, income, and sometimes cultural identity. Whilst hunting can be important for rural local communities, unsustainable levels of hunting, i.e., overexploitation, is one of the leading causes of wildlife decline and extinction worldwide, and can significantly impact rural food security and livelihoods. Demand for wildmeat by people living in urban areas is one of the main drivers of overexploitation, and is an emerging conservation concern. In densely populated urban areas, the sale and consumption of wildlife is also a public health concern given that nearly three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases originate from wildlife. Reducing the consumption and sale of wildmeat in urban areas is therefore vital to tackle wildlife loss, and reduce the risk of disease spread, yet interventions to do this have been extremely limited. Wildmeat consumers differ in their consumption behaviours given the diversity of roles that wildmeat plays in diets, lives, and livelihoods. However, the factors that shape wildmeat consumption by urban consumers are not well categorised or understood, yet are critical to inform the design of effective interventions. Furthermore, the attitudes of the general public towards the environment and health play an important role in the enabling environment for effective interventions and policy-making, yet attitudes in relation to wildmeat consumption remain unknown. To address these vast knowledge gaps, I propose a novel research plan that integrates several disciplines to investigate public attitudes towards wildlife consumption, determine wildlife consumption patterns and what shapes decision-making by urban wildmeat consumers, and identify priority areas for intervention in tropical African countries. Firstly, I will investigate the attitudes and value orientations of the general public towards wildmeat consumption, health, and the environment in three African countries where face-to-face surveys are very challenging, using automated mobile phone surveys. Secondly, by combining face-to-face dietary intake surveys, choice-experiments, specialised questioning techniques, and food establishment mapping, I will identify the factors that underpin urban wildmeat consumption and determine the profiles of wildmeat consumers in several focal West and Central African towns and cities. Thirdly, using the data collected in this study, I will develop and test realistic scenarios of possible interventions to reduce wildmeat consumption (e.g., market bans, access to alternative sources of food, behaviour change campaigns), for the first time, through building a virtual laboratory that simulates urban wildmeat consumer behaviours, social networks, and their local food environment. Finally, using a newly available database of past research on urban market sales and consumption of wildmeat, I will identify priority urban areas for intervention based on positive and negative health implications of consuming wildmeat on human health. West and Central Africa was chosen as the study region because wildmeat consumption is known to be prevalent, food insecurity known to be high, and the rapidly urbanising population in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to double in size by 2050. Simultaneously, demand for animal source foods is increasing, therefore unsustainable urban demand for wildlife poses a direct threat to species survival. By identifying the drivers underpinning wildmeat consumption, and testing management scenarios, appropriate actions can be taken to reduce urban wildmeat consumption, and consequently protect wildlife and the ecosystems that millions of people rely on.

在地球上生物多样性最丰富的热带地区，有超过2000种野生动物的肉被食用（被称为“野生肉”）。在许多农村地区，生活在野生动物附近的人们依靠狩猎野生动物作为食物、收入和文化身份的重要来源。虽然狩猎对农村当地社区很重要，但不可持续的狩猎水平，即，过度开发是全球野生动物减少和灭绝的主要原因之一，并可能严重影响农村粮食安全和生计。生活在城市地区的人们对野生肉类的需求是过度开发的主要驱动力之一，也是一个新出现的保护问题。在人口稠密的城市地区，野生动物的销售和消费也是一个公共卫生问题，因为近四分之三的新发传染病源自野生动物。因此，减少城市地区野生动物肉的消费和销售对于解决野生动物损失和减少疾病传播风险至关重要，但为此采取的干预措施极为有限。野生肉类消费者的消费行为各不相同，因为野生肉类在饮食、生活和生计中发挥着多种作用。然而，影响城市消费者食用野生肉类的因素尚未得到很好的分类或理解，但对于设计有效的干预措施至关重要。此外，公众对环境和健康的态度在为有效干预和决策创造有利环境方面发挥着重要作用，但公众对食用野生肉类的态度仍然不为人知。为了解决这些巨大的知识差距，我提出了一个新的研究计划，整合了几个学科，调查公众对野生动物消费的态度，确定野生动物消费模式和城市野生动物消费者的决策形状，并确定在热带非洲国家干预的优先领域。首先，我将调查的态度和价值取向的一般公众对野生动物的消费，健康和环境在三个非洲国家，面对面的调查是非常具有挑战性的，使用自动移动的电话调查。其次，通过结合面对面的饮食摄入量调查，选择实验，专门的提问技术，和食品机构映射，我将确定的因素，支持城市野生肉类消费，并确定在几个重点西部和中部非洲城镇和城市的野生肉类消费者的配置文件。第三，利用本研究收集的数据，我将开发和测试可能的干预措施的现实场景，以减少野生动物的消费（例如，通过建立一个模拟城市野生肉类消费者行为、社交网络及其当地食品环境的虚拟实验室，首次开展了一系列活动，包括市场禁令、获得替代食品来源、改变行为运动等。最后，使用一个新的数据库，过去的研究城市市场销售和消费的野生肉类，我将确定优先干预城市地区的基础上，积极和消极的健康影响，消费野生肉类对人类健康。西非和中非被选为研究区域，因为众所周知，野生动物的消费很普遍，粮食不安全程度很高，预计到2050年，撒哈拉以南非洲的人口将迅速城市化。与此同时，对动物源性食物的需求正在增加，因此城市对野生动物的不可持续需求对物种生存构成了直接威胁。通过确定野生动物消费的驱动因素，并测试管理方案，可以采取适当的行动来减少城市野生动物消费，从而保护野生动物和数百万人所依赖的生态系统。

项目成果

Black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla documented in Deng Deng National Park, Cameroon, using camera traps

使用相机陷阱在喀麦隆登登国家公园记录到的黑腹穿山甲 Phataginus tetradactyla

• DOI: 10.1017/s0030605323000352
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Oryx
• 影响因子: 2.7
• 作者: Difouo G

Wildlife response to management regime and habitat loss in the Terai Arc Landscape of Nepal

尼泊尔特莱弧景观野生动物对管理制度和栖息地丧失的反应

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110334
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Biological Conservation
• 影响因子: 5.9
• 作者: Ferreira G

Fluid hunter motivation in Central Africa: Effects on behaviour, bushmeat and income

中部非洲的流体狩猎动机：对行为、森林猎物和收入的影响

• DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10502
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: People and Nature
• 影响因子: 6.1
• 作者: Froese G