No BushMeat Christmas

In September, a BBC undercover investigation revealed a disgusting trade in illegal bushmeat at a London market. The investigators used hidden cameras to uncover butchers selling the illegal meats including what it referred to as the sale of 'dead rats' for human consumption.

The show has been aired several times with the view to horrifying many that have been buying meat from those shops.

It was interesting to read the story from the BBC, which gave it a UK perspective. It focused on illegal trading of illicit meat, breaking the UK food safety laws, food contamination and fears of people getting ill from eating such food. It was also revealed the inadequate capacity and the failure of the local authority and inspection and enforcement agencies to act decisively.

Though Ghana was named as having been exporting grasscutter (the Greater Cane Rat Thryonomys swinderianus) to some African food stores, what caught my attention most was the response of the public to the story. One blogger wrote: '… There is a demand, someone will supply…” That for me was the reason and the answer to the bushmeat dilemma in West and Central Africa and its trading relationship with Europe and other continents. Any successful campaign to drive change must focus on the market and consumption pattern of people.

For a West African like me, it is all about threats to our tropical animals, biodiversity loss and the disappearance of the remaining rainforest. The multibillion-dollar bushmeat trade is among the greatest threats to tropical animals worldwide.

In West Africa, the region's bushmeat trade is estimated at upwards of 400,000 metric tons per year and includes more than 400 wildlife species. In Ghana, wildlife has declined by an estimated three-quarter since the 1970s, and at least one-sixth of the species that have been monitored in reserves since then are locally extinct.

With the region's human population growing at 2-3 percent each year, demand for bushmeat is likely to double in 25-35 years if rates of bushmeat consumption do not fall.

Consequently, large-bodied wildlife species could be hunted to local extinction in most of the area by the year 2020. For many of these large-bodied and slow-growing species, commercial hunting of bushmeat already exceeds their replacement rate and is unsustainable in many areas.

This is certainly not good for anything. It is not good for sustainable agriculture, food security and the livelihoods of millions of people and communities whose lives depend on the land.

There is a consensus that the loss of Earth's wild species will be harmful to the world's ecosystems and may harm society by reducing ecosystem services that are essential to human health and prosperity. Loss of wildlife may threaten the food security of many marginalized forest foragers, and farmer-forager communities that are isolated from market and depend on bushmeat as their primary protein source.

As once pointed out by Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director WWF's International Species Programme: “the sad reality is that those who most depend upon wild sources of food are usually the ones who pay the heaviest price for biodiversity loss.” We need to take biodiversity loss far more seriously and take greater action to prevent further losses of species.

In finding sustainable ways to manage the remaining wildlife and rainforest it has been interesting trying to understand why we continue to eat wildlife in the first place: do we want to, or do we have to? Many conservationists assume the latter, and there is evidence that this assumption is true in many places.

What is also true is the former, and at least the BBC story gives us evidence of Ghanaians in London who would want to eat bushmeat even in the midst of not only plenty but also cheap domesticated alternatives.

Many African cultures greatly respect or fear wildlife species, and frown on their consumption. However, the economic incentive to hunt bushmeat has led to an erosion of most of these traditional values, and it appears that external interference is appropriate to avert further extinction. I am not expecting another Harkin-Engel Protocol but industry-specific protocols might be necessary to put the spotlight on wildlife protection in West and Central Africa.

If we could be successful with our campaign to reduce bushmeat consumption, we would need to focus on our consumers. Urban consumers should lead by SAYING NO to BUSHMEAT. Each woman or man who eats bushmeat is one too many. Fortunately, there are a lot of cheap protein alternatives and abundance of local meat and fish as well as domesticated grasscutter for those who want bushmeat at all cost.

You and I can take action this holiday by making a commitment and a promise to SAY NO to BUSHMEAT this Christmas, and a New Year Resolution never again to eat bushmeat. I know that this would not come easy for a culture that has been passed from generations to generations. Family relations would be expecting bushmeat gift on arrival in the village for Christmas. There would be lots of bushmeat on display at the roadsides to our towns and villages as we journey to visit families and friends this holiday. There will be signs for it on our restaurants and market place to attract us to our old ways.

To make our commitment firm and to help us keep our NO BUSHMEAT Christmas promise, there are several things we could do this holiday season to help protect our wildlife in the long term.

1.Get to know the Rainforest, wildlife and biodiversity - Cozy up with your family with a book, a cartoon or your laptop and discover the rainforests. We are more likely to remember to protect things we love. Learn all that you can about biodiversity and food issues. Learn about where your food comes from, including about how food is grown and raised around the world. Understanding biodiversity is important to understand how humans should live while respecting the Earth's finite resources.

2.Support domestic ecotourism - The wildlife parks and rainforests are valuable tourist resource for many communities, and making them tourist attractions ensures their protection. Plan a domestic vacation to at least one of the 16 national parks or conservation areas (with popular tourist destinations being the Kakum National Park and Assin Attadanso Resource Reserve, the Mole National Park, The Nini Suhien National Park and the Ankasa Resource Reserve, Bia national park & Resource Reserve, Bui national Park) this Christmas to discover the importance of these wild animals and to see the rainforest from the canopy. Visit the wildlife sanctuary of Agumatsa, Bomfobiri, Owabi and Wechiau Hippo to discover wildlife. The Boabeng-Fiem Monkey Santuary is also home to sacred troops of mona and black-and-white colobus monkeys which remains the flagship for more than two dozen other community-based tourism sites countrywide.

3. Share this piece and your experiences with your family, friends and community members. Inspire them to work with you in helping protect biodiversity. Encourage them to appreciate the value of protecting our wildlife and natural resources and changing their business practices and eating habits to SAYING NO to BUSHMEAT.

4. Involve others as part of your social network (class, club or local group or social media friends). Once you have a better understanding of local biodiversity issues, it is time to take action. With your network, engage your local government officials, local farmers and community members about biodiversity. Find out about local priorities for biodiversity and how your network or group can help. Together, you can decide to SAY NO to BUSHMEAT. You could also decide if it is best to start a community biodiversity garden; clean up a local wetland; teach community members about biodiversity and farming; adopt a rainforest; buy products grown responsibly or something else.

As Mother Teresa rightly pointed out and as infant Jesus expect of the season; “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Your small action today will help to make a big difference. Just keep the promise: Not to use, eat or buy BUSHMEAT. Ask your family, friends, community members to avoid buying or using BUSHMEAT this Christmas and always!

I wish you a Merry NO BUSHMEAT Christmas and Peaceful 2013!

Christian Mensah
Rainforest Alliance