Is bushmeat just another conservation bandwagon?

There is currently great interest in the sustainability ofbushmeat hunting (bushmeat being any wild animal by hunted for human consumption). All the big conservation‘players’ have contributed to the debate, issued statements or funded research. IUCN's WorldConservation Congress in October 2000 and the CITES Bushmeat Conference of the Parties in April 2000 both discussedbushmeat. Both organisations have since sponsored initiatives in West and Central Africa aimed at obtainingaction on the issue. Major conservation organisations are funding research, including the WildlifeConservation Society (which has a long track-record in this field) and Conservation International. The WorldBank has commissioned a major report on the issue (Bennett & Robinson, 2000). Fauna & Flora International(FFI) is a partner in a UK government-commissioned project identifying priority research areas. Conservationorganisations have formed the US-based Bushmeat Crisis Task Force (see http://www.bushmeat.org), ofwhich FFI is a member, and the UK-based Bushmeat Working Group of the Tropical Forest Forum (seehttp://www.forestforum.org.uk), where academic conservationists and government policy makers canexchange experience and ideas.