AFRICAN INDABA

6 The CIC At The CBD/CITES Bushmeat Meeting

From 7 to10 of June the CBD/CITES Bushmeat Meeting was held in Nairobi. The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation CIC, an IUCN Member Organization, as one of the major partners of the meeting was represented by Ali Kaka, IUCN Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa and Special Adviser of CIC President Lozé. Kaka stressed the need for the documentation of ’Best Practice Examples’ in systematically tackling the bushmeat crisis.

The over-exploitation of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in many tropical and subtropical countries is increasingly threatening food security and livelihoods in many countries, and is a major cause of biodiversity loss. Bushmeat (or wild meat) hunting is defined as the harvesting of wild animals in tropical and sub-tropical countries for food and for non-food purposes, including for medicinal use. The group recommended a number of approaches for alternatives to unsustainable harvesting of bushmeat, including:

	Sustainable wildlife management, community wildlife management, game ranching, and hunting tourism;
	Domestication and raising of wild animals in small farms (mini-livestock);
	Sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products; and
	Certification and eco-labelling of wildlife products.

Kaka informed the participants that the CIC published the 9^th, updated edition of the “Evolution of CITES” book. The Spanish and French versions will be available shortly. By publishing this book, the CIC manifests its commitment to support the implementation of CITES.

The CIC will be inviting the nomination of candidates for its 2012 Markhor Award, which will be presented in a ceremony during the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in India in 2012. This provides an opportunity to reward and highlight a successful project on sustainable wildlife management in connection with sustainable use of local bushmeat. Participants of the Bushmeat Liaison Group were invited to nominate the next Markhor Award winner. The CIC was convinced that the Bushmeat Liaison Group, which CIC has supported in the past, should concentrate on identifying and documenting best practice examples on bushmeat utilization and trade and would be prepared to invest energy in raising necessary funds.