HUNTING AGREEMENTS AS A STRATEGY FOR THE CONSERVATION OF SPECIES: THE CASE OF THE CAZUMBÁ-IRACEMA EXTRACTIVE RESERVE, STATE OF ACRE, BRAZIL

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges for the conservation of hunting species is not to prevent exploitation in a definitive way, but to avoid that overhunting leads to depletion of the species. As a wildlife management tool for hunting, we can highlight the Hunting Agreement, which consists of prohibiting or restricting the hunting of certain species most vulnerable. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine if the adoption of the Hunting Agreement caused a change in the habits of hunters at the Cazumbá-Iracema Extractive Reserve, located in the State of Acre, North Brazil. The Hunting Agreement imposes a ban on the slaughter of species and the use of certain hunting strategies. This study used the methodology of interview to verify the hunting preference and hunting calendar for quantification. We recorded the slaughter of 15 banned individuals namely Ara spp., Amazona spp, Psittacara leucophthalmus and Tapirus terrestris . The comparison of the absolute abundance of species with a prohibition of hunting or not presented a significant difference, showing that there is a greater slaughter of species without prohibition on hunting. The comparison of prohibited and non-prohibited hunting strategies had a significant difference, demonstrating the greater predominance of the use of permitted strategies. There is a greater slaughter of species without prohibition on hunting. Prohibited hunting strategies represent a punctual behavior within the community. The implementation of the Hunting Agreement pervades not only the population awareness of the population lag of the target species, but mainly cultural, behavioral, economic and legislative changes.