Abstract
Bushmeat is not only an important source of fat, micronutrients, and macronutrients, but it also has medicinal uses. Extensive human–wildlife interactions may lead to pathogen exchange and trigger zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola, and coronavirus disease 2019. In the tropics, bushmeat has become one of the most threatened resources due to widespread habitat loss and overexploitation, largely driven by increased global demand, weak governance, and lack of enforcement. Unsustainable harvesting, consumption, and production practices are common, although drivers are complex and intertwined and vary regionally, pointing to a looming rural nutrition security and wildlife conservation issue. Growing demand in fast urbanizing markets coupled with easy access fuels the illegal trade of bushmeat, medicinal products, and wildlife-based luxury goods. Although bushmeat contributes significantly to rural people's income and poverty alleviation, overharvesting impacts those who are most dependent on the forest. To balance the rural and culturalimportance of bushmeat with conservation and public health priorities, strategies to safeguard tropical biodiversity, sustainable harvest of wildlife with reduced health risk for nutrition and medicine are urgently needed.
Highlights
L importance of bushmeat with conservation and public health priorities, strategies to safeguard tropical biodiversity, sustainable harvest of wildlife with reduced health risk for nutrition and medicine are urgently needed
As such, ensuring the sustainable harvesting of bushmeat and medicinal products is imperative for halting further loss of biodiversity, improving rural livelihoods and enhancing rural people’s health and nutritional and food security, and lowering public health risks
With regard to humans and livelihoods, we addressed the differential impacts on socioeconomic groups and nutrition and livelihood insecurity, and the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases and their impacts on public health
Summary
We illustrate the importance of tropical wildlife as a source of protein, nutrition, and livelihood, as well as traditional medicine. Researchers study the medicinal purposes, body parts used, and cost of medicinal animal species traded and used in traditional medicine in Brazil, Vietnam, and Nigeria [6, 14, 15]. Certain countries such as Mauritius possess valuable knowledge on a plethora of animal-based therapies used in the treatment and/or management of human diseases (e.g., 31 animal species belonging to 12 taxonomic groups were used in traditional medicine) [16]. Rural people in the tropics depend on wildlife for medicine
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
