Hunting for meat is a key threat to biodiversity in Central Africa, while also providing food and income to many communities. Wild meat use over the last 50 years has shifted from predominantly subsistence consumption by rural communities to consumption as a luxury item by growing urban populations. Several Central African countries are reviewing their wild meat policies and legislation, to ensure policies stay relevant to this changing use. However, national wild meat data need to inform these changes are often inaccessible to policy makers.

OUR APPROACH: This regional working group will support national policy reforms across Central African countries to ensure the sustainable use of wild species by providing national policy makers with a wild meat evidence base to help inform their decisions. We will be working with the governments of Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Cameroon, who are all at differing stages of wild meat policy reform processes. We will, at the request of these governments, provide targeted analyses and information to support decision-making, and assist with national workshops to draft, discuss and validate wild meat policies.