August 1999 American Society of Primatologists
Bushmeat Crisis Workshop

Workshop: THE AFRICAN BUSHMEAT CRISIS -- NEW FINDINGS, THEORY, & SOLUTIONS.

Coordinators: Tara Stoinski (Zoo Atlanta) and Anthony Rose (Biosynergy Institute / Bushmeat Project)

Discussants: Mohammed Bakarr (Conservation International), Kerry Bowman (University of Toronto), Heather Eves (Yale University), Steve Gartlan (WWF-Cameroon), Omari Ilambu (Wildlife Conservation Society), John Oates (Hunter College-CUNY), Anthony Rose (Antioch University), Richard Ruggiero (US Fish & Wildlife Service) Thomas Struhsaker (Duke University)

The African Bushmeat Crisis is more than a crisis for primates and other wildlife. It is also a crisis for the natural ecosystems and human societies of equatorial Africa. International pressure to extract and consume nature as a global commercial resource is the root cause of the crisis, but new elements such as inter-species viral transmission put the Bushmeat Crisis on the global health agenda. Conservation strategies must expand to provide a multifaceted treatment to this complex crisis. This Panel/Workshop will bring together experts from various disciplines to discuss discoveries and approaches to one of the most urgent and pervasive conservation crises on the planet. During the first half of the workshop, Panel members will present brief position papers. They will review the status of primate populations and bushmeat demand/consumption to establish the levels of threat to various primate species. Exploration of sociological, political, and economic issues related to bushmeat will broaden the framework for understanding this crisis. The Panel will outline information and resources needed to confront and curtail the bushmeat crisis, and will examine new approaches (conceptual and experimental) to conservation development. The second half of the proceedings will involve workshop participants and the panel members in discussion of the urgent issues and promising answers which will determine whether non-human primates survive in wild African habitats during the next century.

Topics for Discussion

The state of the bushmeat crisis, especially regarding non-human primates.

Oates - Is there a Bushmeat Crisis and Which African Primates are Most Affected?

Struhsaker - Primate Survival Requires a Matrix of Solutions from Enforcement to Endowment.

Crucial problems (urgent and fundamental) which must be addressed.

Ilambu - Civil War Affects the Bushmeat Trade in DRC and Throughout Central Africa.

Bowman - Ethics and Cultural Values are Crucial for Changing African Lifeways.

Ruggiero - Complex Dynamics Affect Government Intervention in Bushmeat Commerce.

New and ongoing efforts deal with key aspects of the crisis.

Gartlan - Expanding Wildlife Protection Across Borders, Cultures, and Continents.

Eves - Competitors Collaborate In-Situ and in Washington to Sustain African Wildlife.

Innovative solutions (immediate and sustaining) which should be undertaken.

Bakarr - A New Applied Biodiversity Science is Needed to Conserve African Wildlife.

Rose - Bushmeat Commerce Can Be Controlled: Organizing to Confront a Complex Crisis.

The ASP 1999 African Bushmeat Crisis Workshop has been supported in part by grants from Conservation International and Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was conceived as part of the American Zoo & Aquarium Association initiative on Bushmeat. Papers by Panel members and other experts will be compiled into a book on the African Bushmeat Crisis for future publication. For information and involvement contact Tara Stoinski (stoinskit@mindspring.com) or Anthony Rose ().

List of Official Panel Members for ASP Bushmeat Crisis Workshop - August 14, 1999
Mohammed Bakarr - Conservation International - m.bakarr@conservation.org
Kerry Bowman - University of Toronto - kerry.bowman@utoronto.ca
Heather Eves- Yale University - jaspergr@bellatlantic.net
Steven Gartlan - WWF-Cameroon - SGartlan@wwfnet.org
Omari Ilambu - Yale Unversity - omaril@infocom.co.ug
John Oates - Hunter College, CUNY - joates@hejira.hunter.cuny.edu
Anthony Rose - Antioch University - anthony_rose@antiochla.edu
Richard Ruggiero - US Fish and Wildlife - jaspergr@bellatlantic.net
Tara Stoinski - Zoo Atlanta - stoinskit@mindspring.com
Thomas Struhsaker - Duke University - tomstruh@acpub.duke.edu

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