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The socio-cultural significance of mineral licks to the Maijuna of the Peruvian Amazon: implications for the sustainable management of hunting

ABSTRACT: Background The overhunting of wild species is a major threat to biodiversity in the Amazon; yet, managed, sustainable hunting is widely considered part of the solution to conserving wildlife populations. Hunting is both a culturally important activity for Indigenous people and provides an important food source. Mineral licks, a focal point of hunting in Amazonia, are naturally occurring areas in the forest where animals come to obtain essential minerals or clays that are thought to neutralize plant-based alkaloids. We sought to better understand the socio-cultural importance of mineral licks to the Maijuna Indigenous group to inform the sustainable management of this habitat and associated wildlife populations. Methods Semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participatory mapping were carried out with hunters to assess the significance of mineral licks and their associated animal resources as well as to determine how the relationship that the Maijuna have with mineral licks has changed over time. Results Mineral licks are culturally significant and useful to the Maijuna in a variety of ways. Hunters target these areas year-round both during the day and night, and animals killed are consumed for subsistence and sold to generate income. The spatial use of mineral licks across the landscape is determined on the generational family level, with families maintaining exclusive use of selected mineral licks and excluding access by other hunters. The Maijuna also have traditional beliefs for why animals visit mineral licks, which is linked to the traditional Maijuna story of the creation of the first tapir. The relationship that the Maijuna have with mineral licks has changed considerably over time, which is observed through changes in hunting technologies and methods as well as the loss of traditional knowledge and beliefs. Conclusions Traditional and current Maijuna hunting conventions, in which families maintain exclusive use of selected mineral licks, likely reduce the probability of overexploitation of animal populations. Community-based management plans for mineral licks in Maijuna lands and beyond must incorporate and account for the multiple cultural and economic needs of local communities while also striving toward ecological sustainability. Country-wide strategies to conserving forests and using them sustainably should aim to ensure land tenure for rural peoples and encourage management that incorporates traditional sustainable hunting conventions.

SUBMITTER: Gilmore M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7539384 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:This study investigated the attitudes of the people living in three adjacent communities close to the Bomfobiri wildlife sanctuary in Ghana concerning the observation of the cultural, seasonal closures of hunting. The cognitive and motivational approaches to attitude theory in wildlife management guided, under the phenomenology method, the collection of qualitative data on the importance of the seasonal closure of hunting and its implementation challenges. This inquiry was deemed crucial to improving the disjointed relationship between park management and local communities that often make wildlife conservation and tourism difficult at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary. Forty-five key wildlife stakeholders, including park officers, traditional authorities, elderly residents, and bushmeat traders, were purposively selected with some interviewed personally and others engaged in focus group discussions. Despite a more significant number of stakeholders admitting the importance of the seasonal closure of hunting, some challenges impeded its implementation. These included the absence of alternative arrangements to support hunters during the period for the annual closure of hunting; lack of proper sensitisation and education on the hunting ban; absence of transparency in the equitable sharing of proceeds from wildlife tourism at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary among park officers (Government) and the traditional authorities; the booming bushmeat business and the fear of losing customers after the fallow period; and purported corruption on the part of park officers, threatening the observation of the seasonal closure of hunting. The study has offered proactive suggestions to the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission and mainly to park management at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary on how to address these challenges and improve wildlife management and sustainable wildlife tourism potentials in Ghana. Paramount among them is the tactful provision of alternative sources of livelihood and the establishment of enterprises in non-timber forest products as sources of income for hunters during the seasonal hunting ban.

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The socio-cultural significance of mineral licks to the Maijuna of the Peruvian Amazon: implications for the sustainable management of hunting

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