Use and trade of bushmeat in Colombia Relevance to rural livelihoods

• Except for the Andean region, bushmeat trade chains are a reality in all regions of Colombia. These chains are usually short and respond to local trade dynamics. • In the Caribbean region, bushmeat trade chains cross different administrative boundaries, thus routes operate at greater distances. • Bushmeat continues to play an important role in the local livelihoods of many communities in Colombia. • The level of dependency on bushmeat increases in rural areas that are located far from urban settlements, because of the difficultly in accessing other proteins and the lack of alternative productive activities. • Bushmeat consumption in Colombia is also associated with deep-rooted local cultural traditions. • The widespread existence of bushmeat trade chains in the different regions of Colombia, despite being illegal, highlights the need to review current legal frameworks. • Simplifying the requirements for the legal trade of surplus meat from non protected and resilient species by rural communities may be the way forward. However, there is a need to improve the capacities to monitor the use of wild meat and agree on the local governance that should be responsible for ensuring/controlling for sustainable use.


Introduction
Colombia is a country where a variety of social, cultural and economic realities are combined.Thus, livelihoods differ substantially between rural and peri-urban communities and major urban settlements.In some contexts, bushmeat consumption represents a fundamental component of local livelihoods; it is associated with cultural traditions, generates income, and is part of the food security and sovereignty of communities.In order to assess the importance of bushmeat for the livelihoods of different communities from Colombia, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Science International Foundation conducted field trips to 22 representative municipalities of the five biogeographical regions of the country.
During the field trips, places of strategic importance for the bushmeat trade, such as market places, harbors and restaurants, were visited.In these places, informal discussions were held with stakeholders involved in bushmeat trade chains: sellers, intermediaries, restaurant owners and consumers, among others.These informal discussions provided information on the ethnicity of stakeholders; alternative economic activities for their livelihoods; entry and exit routes of the bushmeat trade; the most traded species; and the importance of this resource for culture, economy, health and household nutrition.Moreover, environmental authorities with local or regional competence (autonomous regional corporations, environmental police, administrative departments, among others) were visited to obtain official information, as well as to identify other places of strategic importance for the bushmeat trade.Given the scope of this study, our results offer a rapid assessment of the bushmeat trade in different eco-regions of Colombia, but do not include detailed quantitative results.We hope that this assessment will inspire more studies with a broader temporal and spatial scope for more detail.The main results of field visits in each region are described below.

Orinoco region
In the Orinoco region, we visited the municipalities of Puerto Carreño, Paz de Ariporo, Puerto Inirida and Arauca.Bushmeat trade routes within the region are short.Occasionally, there is cross-border trade between Colombia and Venezuela, through porous boundaries where state control is scarce or nonexistent.Nonetheless, it is mainly local trade between neighboring communities, and mostly for subsistence purposes.The trade across the two countries has significantly decreased due to the current socioeconomic conditions (closure of the border and devaluation of the bolívar).There are some limited longdistance national trade chains; bushmeat is transported in taxis from Hato Corozal to the Andean region, specifically to the department of Boyaca (Quinceno-Mesa et al. 2014).
In the places visited, hunting is practiced by urban settlers, rural indigenous people and peasants.Urban hunters conduct hunting activities on their own land, and the meat harvested is consumed or sold to known customers by prior request.On the other hand, in rural areas, peasants and indigenous people (mainly of Sikuani ethnicity) practice hunting for consumption and sporadically sell surpluses to restaurants and consumers.In Yopal and Paz de Ariporo, the bushmeat trade also operates through local market places (Quinceno-Mesa et al. 2014).In rural areas of the department of Vichada, especially those located far away from urban settlements, access to other sources of protein is limited by the conditions of roads, therefore bushmeat plays a major role in the food security of these communities.In the Orinoco region, bushmeat consumption, especially of capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), is associated with local culture.For example, in the municipality of Arauca, consumption of this species significantly increases during 'la Araucanidad' festivities and Holy Week.Also consumed and commercially harvested in the region are species such as armadillo (Dasypus sabanicola), agouti (Cuniculus paca), terecaya turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), charapa turtle (Podocnemis expansa) and deer (Mazama spp./Odocoileus virginianus).

Pacific region
In the Pacific Region, the municipalities of Quibdo, Buenaventura and Tumaco were visited.In this region, trade routes are short; bushmeat is extracted in rural areas and transported by river to harbors located in urban zones.There, bushmeat is sold in market places.The most consumed and traded species in the region are agouti (Cuniculus paca) and collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu).Other species such as armadillo (Dasypus sp.), iguana (Iguana iguana) and babilla (Caiman crocodilus), are also traded.In the Pacific, hunting is mainly carried out by people of African descent and, to a lesser extent, indigenous people (mainly located in the department of Nariño).Most hunters have a different primary economic activity and, therefore, the bushmeat trade constitutes an additional income for their livelihoods.However, in Buenaventura there are some specialized hunters for whom hunting is their main source of income.In Tumaco's market place, hunters exchange meat for household products.For these hunters, bushmeat provides food security for their families.On the other hand, bushmeat sellers from Tumaco's market place depend on this resource to guarantee their livelihoods, since they do not offer other products nor are involved in any alternative activity.
In Buenaventura and Quibdo, bushmeat trade dynamics depend on women.In Buenaventura, bushmeat is sold at the local market by women known as 'platoneras'1 , whose main economic activity is the sale of seafood.They trade the meat to final consumers, or to women who cook in restaurants located in the same marketplace.Likewise, most bushmeat restaurants in Quibdo are run by women.

Amazon region
In the Amazon region, we visited the municipalities of Leticia, Puerto Nariño, Tarapaca, Mocoa, Puerto Asis and Puerto Ospina.Here, the bushmeat trade chains cross national boundaries.In Leticia's market, the bushmeat sold comes from Peruvian and Brazilian communities located along the Javari river.Between Puerto Ospina (Colombia) and Puerto del Carmen (Ecuador), bushmeat is also sold across the border.In Tarapaca, we observed the trade of charapa turtle (Podocnemis expansa) to Brazil, where its oil is extracted to be used as sex aid (Gómez et al. 2016).
In the Amazon, bushmeat is very important for local livelihoods, especially for indigenous communities.This resource generates a significant contribution to food sovereignty and security, and is strongly associated with cultural traditions.Most hunters perform other productive activities, thus bushmeat is an additional source of income generated from the sale of surplus animals from subsistence hunting.These revenues are generally used to buy foods that are not locally produced, as well as basic household goods and hunting tools (Ortega 2014;Quinceno et al. 2014).Vendors in the market places diversify their supply with other products.Likewise, most bushmeat restaurants in the region vary the dishes with fish and other proteins.Bushmeat consumption is higher in rural zones.In the Amazon region, a large variety of species is consumed and traded, including tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), agouti (Cuniculus paca), collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu) and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu peccary).In contrast, bushmeat consumption in urban areas is scarce, given the nutritional transition from wild foods to domestic proteins and processed meats, which are often poor in micronutrients (Sarti et al. 2015;van Vliet et al. 2015a).

Andean region
In the Andean region, we visited Bogotá and some municipalities of the coffee-producing region.In this region, bushmeat does not significantly contribute to local livelihoods, given the availability and access to domestic proteins, even in rural zones.Likewise, bushmeat is not of cultural importance to the people of the region, who have historically transformed their traditional forms of consumption.Despite changes in the landscape and the historic deforestation of the region (where most of the Colombian population is concentrated) and the consequent shortage of wildlife, availability of bushmeat is reported in some market places and restaurants.In Bogotá, there are a few barbecue restaurants that offer capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) (Quiceno et al. 2015).Bushmeat may also be sold sporadically in markets, despite constant monitoring by environmental authorities.For example, it is possible to find meat from capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), agouti (Cuniculus paca), armadillo (Dasypus sp.) and wild pigeon (Columbidae) that come from the Orinoco, Pacific and Amazon regions, transported to Bogotá inside refrigerators (Quiceno et al. 2015).Although bushmeat consumption is very sporadic in the coffee-producing area, it is still possible to order meat from agouti (Cuniculus paca), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), guaga loba (Dynomis branickii), rabbit (Oryctoagulus sp.) and ñeque (Dasyprocta fuliginosa).

Conclusions
Despite their illegality, bushmeat trade chains persist within the different regions of Colombia, with the exception of the Andean region.These chains are usually short and respond to local trade dynamics.However, in the Caribbean region, bushmeat trade chains involve several administrative boundaries, thus routes operate over greater distances.Likewise, in the capital city, Bogatá, it is possible to find bushmeat transported from the Orinoco, Amazon and Pacific regions.Moreover, there are transboundary trade dynamics in specific parts of the country, particularly in the Caribbean and the Amazon.Although these trade chains go beyond national borders, they are actually part of a local trade between communities located on either side of the border.
In some regions, bushmeat plays an important role for rural communities in economic, cultural and nutritional terms.Bushmeat is particularly important in rural settings, located far away from urban settlements, where the lack of road infrastructure hinders access to other sources of protein, or significantly increases their price.In some contexts, bushmeat is deeply rooted in cultural traditions.On the other hand, where meat from industrial origin is predominant, bushmeat and fish allow diversity in diets and enrich them in micronutrients.For stakeholders involved in the trade chain, the importance of bushmeat for their livelihoods varies depending on the availability of alternative productive activities.For most stakeholders, the sale of bushmeat represents an additional income, since it is not their main economic activity.However, in other cases, people depend on the trade of this resource to provide economic support to their families, due to the absence of alternative productive activities.In either case, the income generated through the sale of bushmeat allows them to meet household needs.
The existence of bushmeat trade chains in the different regions of Colombia, despite their illegality, evidence the need to review current legal frameworks.On one hand, prohibition is not proving to be effective, since it fails to prevent the bushmeat trade, and, on the other hand, it does not respond to the local realities of the country (van Vliet et al. 2015b trade chains play an important role in economic, cultural and nutritional terms, which must be embraced in the formulation of national policies.Despite illegality, some recent legal instruments have opened a path for regulating wild meat trade.Resolution 075 of 2015 from the Colombian Agricultural and Livestock Institute, established some health requirements for species for which commercial hunting has been authorized.Moreover, Decree 562 of 2016 from the Ministry of Environment regulated health and food safety requirements for the handling of Capybara meat obtained through hunting.This is an example of how sustainable use initiatives framed within clear regulations can be promoted to account for the local realities of many rural regions in Colombia while securing ecological sustainability, food safety and food security, as well as sustainable incomes for rural dwellers.Simplifying the requirements for the legal trade of surplus meat from non protected and resilient species by rural communities may be the way forward.However, there is a need for more participatory debates to discuss the local governance that should be responsible for ensuring sustainable use (e.g.community associations, universities, environmental authorities, etc.).Improving the capacities of local users and regional/national governmental bodies to monitor the use of wild meat (both subsistence and commercial) is a first initial step towards sustainability.