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About 160 kilometers, or 100 miles northwest of Equatorial Guinea on the mainland, the volcanic island is covered in lush tropical rainforests. The forest is home to many endemic animals, including the Bioko Drill Monkeys (Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis), which are listed as endangered species, and the highly at-risk black colobus monkeys (Colobus satanas). Scattered across the landscape were patches of farmland, cocoa and coffee farms that corresponded to the growing human presence on the island, most of which were concentrated north.
Unlike many parts of Central and West Africa, deforestation poses no threat to the tropical rainforests of Bioco. But the trade in thriving wild meat, including endemic primates, is home to protectionists at the edge.
“Bioko's bush meat (consumption) is clearly unsustainable because there are several species that are classified as endemic as islands,” says Maximilianoferro, research director at the National University of Equatorial Guinea at Malabo. “Since the oil boom on Bioco Island that began in 1994, we have moved to this location from both Equatorial Guinea and abroad on the mainland, developing the taste of bush meat.”
Its flavor created a niche market that would be useful for Malabo-rich urban areas. Some people believe that wild meat tastes better and is more nutritious than store-bought meat. Many view it as delicateness and vanity.
A recent study published in Journal PLOS Sustainability and Change, including Fero, examines the drivers behind Bioko's wild meat trade and how they responded to economic recessions, conservation behaviours and public health concerns over the past 30 years.
Bioko says it is “a laboratory for understanding the dynamics of the wild meat market.”
“This is a system that allows us to understand the trade in gorgeous wild meat,” adds Gonder.
As part of the longest-running wild meat research, researchers investigated the largest Semu Wild Meat Market in Bioko, the largest every day since 1997, and collected data on the corpses sold, including species, age, gender, origin, and price. As the island's population grows, other wild meat markets have emerged around Malabo in recent years. Data from these three secondary markets has been added to the survey dataset since 2018.
In this study, researchers analyzed wild meat market research data from October 1997 to March 2021 to understand how important events in Equatorial Guinea affected trade. These events included the 2002 biodiversity roundtable, which presented Bioko's conservation strategy. Domestic primate hunting bans in 2007. The 2009 economic crisis followed the slump in global oil prices in 2009. Public health emergency situations such as the Ebola and Covid-19 outbreak. This study assessed how conservation behaviors such as regular surveillance and sustainable livelihood programs for Bioko's local communities affected the wild meat trade.
“To understand the present, we need to know the past well,” says Demetrio Bocuma Meñe, who has studied the wild meat trade in Equatorial Guinea in the past but has not been involved in this study. “This type of research provides tools for making informed decisions about wildlife management.”
Changes in trends in the wild meat trade
Over the course of 23 years, researchers have recorded nearly 660,000 dead bodies from 33 species in the SEMU market. More than a quarter of the corpses were the poached rats (Cricetomys Emini), a common species in central and West Africa, followed by the widespread deer species, Blue Duiker (Philantomba Monticola). They discovered nearly 39,000 dead bodies belonging to 28 species in the secondary market.
When research began, most primates and most of the wild meat sold in the deserts were sourced from the island, Gonder said. However, it changed over time, spiked between 2014 and early 2020, with more animals being shipped from the mainland to Bioco. “As the movement between the mainland of Africa and the islands improved, there were huge changes, especially when people came in, bodies began to enter from the mainland,” says Gonder.
Rodents like porch drats, rodents such as brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus), African palm care (Nandinia binotata), and endangered pangolin (Fataginus claspice), were the most imported animals from the mainland.
Primates such as the best-price drill and the colobus monkeys were seen to have declined in corpse sales during the 2009 economic crisis. A similar trend was observed in Duika. People have switched from the mainland to cheap, abundant rodent meat. However, shortly after the crisis, as foreign investment in the country increased and the economy recovered, researchers noticed an expansion in the wild meat trade, and more bodies arrived from the mainland.
Interestingly, no enforcement policy interventions were rare to overthrow trade. Following the 2002 biodiversity roundtable, primate corpse sales rose 275%. Following the national primate ban in 2007, sales fell slightly short of the announcement, but before it had increased dramatically, it surpassed pre-Prevan levels by more than 50%. Without enforcement of the ban, people say they have begun hunting primates indiscriminately as much as possible, increasing the number of corpses seen in the market.
Conservation measures in the early 2010s by the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP) of Gran Caldera Scientific Reserve and Indefor-AP, the Equatorial Guinea's Protected Areas Administration, have succeeded in overthrowing the wild meat trade. The increased continued surveillance and patrol meant that hunting wild meat was a challenge and sales for primates and Dukers had fallen. “We had boots on the ground and were researching the area, and as a result, we were able to record a drop in rates,” says Gonder.
The public health emergency had a negative impact on demand for wild meat as health concerns related to its consumption gained traction in the media. This was observed during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The findings are “really good evidence” to show that public health messages are effective, Gonder says, adding that it is “probably the most effective way to discourage urban wild meat consumption.”
Stronger enforcement and livelihood alternatives disrupt trade
Findings indicate that conservation interventions such as increased surveillance and patrols can lead to dents in the wild meat trade. While urban demand remains a major driver, increased road construction and slower enforcement allow hunters to increase access to wildlife and openly hunt endemic and protected species without consequences, Ferro says. “In general, there is a very low environmental awareness across the island,” he says.
Providing a livelihood alternative to the community is key to successful conservation interventions, according to Bocuma. “If there's no option for them, what happens… you're going to start a black market,” he says. “If you don't have control over what's going on in that black market, you'll eventually go back to normal (the level of trade).”
Gonder says the funds needed to build the infrastructure needed for these interventions are difficult to bring in domestically. “Conservation is generally very inadequately funded, especially in Equatorial Guinea,” she says.
There is a need for a cultural change in the responsibly consumption of wild meat among people, Ferro added that a perception campaign about the implications for trade conservation will be helpful.
“The best path to advancement in Equatorial Guinea must be a multifaceted approach,” says Gonder.
Banner Image: Bioko Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis), an endemic primate (Equatorial Guinea), an endemic primate (Equatorial Guinea), is highly regarded for its taste, making it the most expensive wild meat on the market. Image by Ian Nichols.
Quote:
Mitchell, D. V., Woloszynek, S., Mitchell, M. W., Cronin, D. T., Zhao, Z., Rosen, Gr., …Gonder, M. K. (2024). Growth and globalization of the wildlife economy in Central Africa: insights from a 23-year study of the wild meat market on Bioco Island, Equatorial Guinea. Sustainability and Transformation of PLOS, 3 (11), E0000139. doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000139
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