Abstract
Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 14-22 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Conservation Biology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
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Keywords
- Ivory
- Poaching
- Rhino horn
- Rural development
- Wildlife trade
Cite this
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Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting. / Duffy, Rosaleen; St John, Freya A.V.; Büscher, Bram; Brockington, Dan.
In: Conservation Biology, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2016, p. 14-22.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting
AU - Duffy, Rosaleen
AU - St John, Freya A.V.
AU - Büscher, Bram
AU - Brockington, Dan
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.
AB - Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.
KW - Ivory
KW - Poaching
KW - Rhino horn
KW - Rural development
KW - Wildlife trade
U2 - 10.1111/cobi.12622
DO - 10.1111/cobi.12622
M3 - Article
VL - 30
SP - 14
EP - 22
JO - Conservation Biology
JF - Conservation Biology
SN - 0888-8892
IS - 1
ER -