Launch of 'Why Eat Wild Meat' project
In partnership with FCTV, IIED and Oxford University, we are undertaking a project to understand better why people choose to eat 'bushmeat' rather than farmed animals. We know from our other work that there is a preference for eating animal meat obtained from hunting, but why is this? If we can determine the reasons, then we can work better with local people to find alternatives to illegal hunting (for example, inside a protected area) or species that are illegal to hunt (for example, any species threatened by extinction and protected by law).
We launched the project in April, via an event kindly hosted by the UK High Commission. We received good media coverage, including this newspaper article written in pidgin.
How Cameroon love for bush meat dey put animals for danger
Leocadia Bongben BBC News Pidgin, Cameroon
Bush meat weh kontri pipo di laikam sotei, chop lick finger don di scarce and de price for de wan weh e dey market di cost.
Na de tori weh Jean Mballa, bush meat seller tell BBC News Pidgin for Nkolndongo, one bush meat market for Yaoundé.
"For dis market we di sell bush meat laik, porcupine, ground beef, and wey get laik two deep freezer for snake now," Mballa explain.
"Pipo laik bush meat and de price no di stop dem. Even big snake for 60,000frs deh di buy. 18,000frs for porcupine, den we clean'am for dem", Mballa tok.
Bush meat fit finish because pipo di hunt'am too much for forest for chop and for make money and na big problem for animal protection areas, forest sabi pipo tok.
High demand inside towns laik Yaoundé di make pipo even wit no permit hunt bush meat. Some animals weh deh di disappear too much for protected areas for Cameroon region.
Dis wan na de reason weh Mballa notice say for de pass three years weh e di sell for Nkolndongo market, bush meat di so reduce.
Some sabi pipo for protection say before about 70 to 90 tons for bush meat bi di enta every moon and 2.3 ton every day for markets dem for Yaoundé for 1995. But, dis figures don drop and some experts di worry say if deh no find solution, taim go bi weh bush meat go finish for forest.
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Stephanie Brittain, wey be researcher wit International Institute for Environment and Development and oda partners, di check why pipo di chop bush meat.
Brittain say initiative for protect bush animal before fail for seka say deh no understand why pipo di chop bush meat.
Mouamfon Mama, wey be one of di local partners, say de project around protected area - Dja reserve and Solomo na for check if communities fit do something else for replace bush meat.
"We go discuss wit communities, civil society and decision maker, anthropologists, and oda actors for know why pipo no fit choose other protein apart from bush meat," e tok.
Di Darwin Initiative provide 500,000 dollars for de project for develop lasting jobs, reduce demand for illegal wild life and improve law enforcement.
We'll keep updating the website for findings, and links to our partners websites.