Archive for June, 2008
Although this presentation was done at the Sullivan Summit which I attended from day one to the end, I got this article through the web and I found it interesting since people never seem to agree on where HIV/AIDS originated from. But we all know that bushmeat is a health hazard and these are some of the possibilities. I would love to see your comments on this issue.
Iregi Mwenja USFWS MENTOR Fellow
Central Africa: Expert Blames Aids, Ebola to Bush Meat The Citizen(Dar es Salaam) 6th June 2008 By; Zephania Ubwani Consumption of bushmeat may have fueled the emergence of viral diseases including HIV/Aids and Ebola, among people in the Congo basin, a scientist warned yesterday. Dr John B. Flynn, director of Usaid-supported Central Africa regional programme for the environment said there is evidence that HIV has been transmitted to humans by wild chimpanzees, one of the most hunted animals in the Congo basin. He told the last session of the 8th Sullivan Summit that medical researchers were concerned that bushmeat trade could not only eliminate primate populations in the area, but could also spread HIV/Aids, Ebola, monkey fox and related hemorrhagic fevers. He said although some populations of wild chimpanzees tolerated closely-related SIV virus with few harmful effects, medical researchers were concerned that bush meat trade would eliminate the endangered chimpanzees and other primates. Should that happen, the potentially invaluable information that could have been provided by the on-going trials on the cure of Aids using primates would also disappear, the scientist further warned. According to him, the pool of viruses resident in wildlife populations, especially the primates, has created substantial threat of zonotic diseases transmissions from animals to humans through active hunting and consumption of wildlife. “The bushmeat issue is thus an issue of global concern. It is one of the most severe threats to many large and medium sized mammals in Central African forests,” he said, adding that bush meat has also found its way on the dining tables in town markets in the region. He said the dramatic reduction in mammal populations and the massive felling of trees could lead to ecological disruption of the complex ecosystem in the second largest tropical forest belt after the Amazon in South America. The World Resources Institute, a Washington-based global organisation dealing with natural resources, estimates that about 50 per cent of Central Africa’s forests, under which the Congo basin falls, are under logging leases. “This means the commercial logging sector must be involved and cooperate in order to bring about forest conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources there,” he pointed out. The Congo basin contains about 20 per cent of the world’s moist tropical forests. Although deforestation there is relatively low compared with other tropical zones, scientists say the forest loss there is substantial, corresponding to 21,668 square kilometers for a 10 year period. The basin is believed to be the source of Africa’s existing biological diversity. Of the estimated 8,000 plant species found there, about 80 per cent are endemic to the region, according to the expert. “It is also the riches area for fauna in terms of numbers and level of endemism, with 655 species of birds and 58 species of mammals, about half of them endemic to the area,” Dr Flynn explained, adding that of these, 16 bird species and 23 mammal species are considered threatened. The region supports the world’s largest population of lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) and forest elephants. The Congo basin forest partnership was launched in 2002 in Johannesburg during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) by the United States and South Africa along with 27 public and private partners to promote conservation of natural resources in Central African forests.
Well-managed wildlife trade can benefit poor communities-TRAFFIC, WWF According to findings of a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, and WWF, a well-managed wildlife trade has the potential to deliver significant development benefits for the world’s poor. The report shows that wildlife trade offers opportunities to the poor and benefits to local communities, but these are threatened when illegal or unsustainable trade is allowed to flourish. This is an interesting finding for Kenya where trade in wildlife and wildlife products was banned in 1977. Kenya has since maintained a restrictive non-consumptive utilisation policy and has interestingly lost over 60 % of its wildlife within this time and illegal and unsustainable exploitation of wildlife for bushmeat has reached alarming rates. The legal, international trade in wild plants and animals and the products derived from them was estimated as worth close to USD300 billion in 2005, based on declared import values-and the value is rising, according to this report. The report finds that well-managed, legal and sustainable trade can also have a significant impact on all eight of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the globally agreed road map for development, which lay out targets on poverty and hunger reduction (MDG1) access to education (MDG2), health care (MDGs4, 5 and 6), environmental sustainability (MDG7) and good governance (MDG8). For Kenya, such a trade will help our country achieve the Vision 2020 goals by economically empowering the poor and giving land owners additional sources of income from their land. Wildlife products traded include medicines, food, clothing, ornaments, furnishings, pets, ornamental plants, zoological and botanical display, research, manufacturing and construction materials. As well as contributing to the incomes of the poor, many also contribute directly to their housing, health and other needs. According to Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme: “Trade in wildlife products can have a significant positive economic impact on people’s livelihoods, childhood education, and the role of women in developing countries, provided it is legal, well-managed and sustainable.” The report recommends governments explore semi-intensive production methods, experiment with management regimes that support sustainable off-take levels for species in trade, develop ‘pro-poor’ approaches to standards and certification schemes, and explore co-ordinated approaches to different components of wildlife trade, such as balancing commercial and subsistence interests. Unlike in Kenya where wildlife utilisation have mostly favoured the rich and those with access to capital resulting in resentment against wildlife and revenge killings of endangered species by poor communities to prick where it hurt most. Iregi Mwenja USFWS MENTOR Fellow
Th US Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks of the Department of Interior Mr Kaush Arha yesterday visited CAWM Mweka and had a meeting with the MENTOR Fellows. He gave an inspiring address to the MENTOR Fellows, sharing with us the conservation challenges wildlife managers in America had faced in the past, most of which are similar to what we are facing here in East Africa today. This was after he carefully listened to each MENTOR Fellows who shared with him the bushmeat challenges in their respective countries. The MENTOR (Mentoring for ENvironmental Training in Outreach and Resource Conservation) Fellowship Program was established by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the College of African Wildlife Management- Mweka, Tanzania, and the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group to train and build the capacities of emerging conservation leaders in order to build a network of eastern Africa wildlife professionals who can lead efforts to reduce illegal and unsustainable bushmeat exploitation at local and regional levels. The USFWS have generously provided the funds for this program.
After the meeting he agreed to join us for dinner at the college cafeteria, to the surprise of many of us. The easy going Senior US government official was at home eating food prepared for the students as you can see in the photo below.
It was a great honour meeting and talking to such a senior US official. I was elated by the fact that he was interested in my project on wildlife policy review in Kenya. That motivates me. Iregi Mwenja USFWS MENTOR Fellow
I would like to thanks my first donor on this blog Miss JFN for her generous donation of $20. My blog is less than a month old and I very grateful to Miss JFN for this generous donation. The money will be used to facilitate my blogging by buying mobile phone credit since I am using a wireless modem.
Iregi Mwenja USFWS MENTOR Fellow
I have been attending the Sullivan Summit which started on Monday. The facilities were congested especially on Monday and we could only follow the proceeding from big screens outside the conference hall. Discussion on environment will start tomorrow and this is where I expect to fully participate. However, despite the congestion I managed to capture some images which I want to share with you.
Iregi Mwenja USFWS MENTOR Fellow |
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Iregi Mwenja is one of the 8 USFWS MENTOR Fellows from E. Africa studying a post-graduate course on Bushmeat in CAWM Mweka. He is a leading wildlife biologist with 8 years field experience in East Africa
