Paper short abstract:

We are exploring options for adopting sustainable hunting practices in three rural-indigenous communities of Calakmul, Mexico. This project calibrates hunters’ expert knowledge against ecological information in support of self-governance, towards safeguarding ecosystem function and food security.

Paper long abstract:

Mexican tropical forests are amongst of the world’s hotspots of hunting-induced defaunation. Up to 70% of meat consumed by Mexican rural villages originates from hunting. This activity has profound implications for biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human livelihoods. Hunting functions as a supplementary livelihood in the tropical forests of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve of southern Mexico. Currently, the scientific literature lacks objective measures of hunting frequencies with which to calibrate social-environmental impacts of hunting on cultural identity and food security under climate change in this area. This project aims to assess hunting practices in the CBR by calibrating hunters’ traditional knowledge against ecological information. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation was conducted in three communities (N=124 households) to evaluate hunting intensity and frequency, motivations and methods, and hunters’ perceptions of regulations. Results indicate that subsistence hunting is a common practice in Calakmul. Adult males in most surveyed households (n = 95) hunt daily, weekly or monthly. Even more households regularly consume wild meat (n = 119). Hunting frequencies and meat consumption are highest in isolated communities surrounded by forested areas. Most local inhabitants in the three communities have observed changes in species availability during the last 10 years, and in some cases, hunters have modified their hunting strategies. Ongoing ecological surveys, through camera-trapping and acoustic monitoring for assessing wild-mammal populations and gunshot frequencies, will ground-truth these findings. This research uses hunters’ knowledge to initiate a process of change towards informed self-policing of sustainable hunting practices that safeguard ecosystem function and food security.