Links between food insecurity and the unsustainable hunting of wildlife in a UNESCO world heritage site in Madagascar

Abstract

BackgroundMadagascar faces dual challenges in biodiversity and public health. The survivorship of lemurs (94% of lemur species are threatened with extinction) depends on the sustainable hunting of a malnourished human population who commonly hunts them for food. Lemur meat provides a valuable source of micronutrients, yet the hunting of threatened species is an untenable solution to food insecurity. We aimed to identify strategies to reduce lemur-hunting, while maintaining or improving child health. MethodsWe quantified interactions among ecosystem indicators (lemur density and habitat biodiversity indices), health indicators (stunting, underweight, wasting, and anaemia in children), and hunting through interviews of 387 households (including 1750 people) and surveys of 28 wildlife transects with 156 habitat plots at 15 sites on the Masoala Peninsula, Madagascar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. FindingsIn 2015, local people ate 6726 forest animals (including 240 lemurs), or about 3·27 kg of wild meat per person during the previous year. Multiple regression analysis showed that forest mammal trapping decreased with increased food security. Local Malagasy were highly food insecure (279 [78%] of 387 households) and malnourished (for children younger than 5 years [n=122] in 13 villages, as many as 67% were stunted, 60% were underweight, 25% were wasted, and 40% were anaemic). Food accounted for 52% of household expenditures in the previous week, and 73% of this was used to purchase a complement to their rice staple. In some villages, as much as 75% of animal-source foods, 10% of protein, and 14% of iron came from forest animals, showing a strong dependence of their food system on ecosystem functioning. Few micronutrient-rich alternatives to wild meats were available in adequate supply and many were highly volatile; 2940 (79%) of 3722 chickens died from Newcastle disease in the previous year. InterpretationTo reduce lemur-hunting, while improving household food security and child health, we suggest increasing poultry production (through vaccination and husbandry education) in villages where forests contribute the most to food security. FundingNational Geographic Society Conservation Trust (C280-14).