Protection and preservation of big monkeys, illegal trade in bushmeat. Petition 461/2000

The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the own-initiative report drafted by Proinsias DE ROSSA. (Please see the summary dated 01/10/03.) It urged the Commission to integrate an EU strategy and action plan on bushmeat in the context of implementing the EU biodiversity action plan with a clear objective aimed at conserving biodiversity and protecting those species threatened by the bushmeat trade with sufficient funding to implement this objective. Parliament also stressed the links between the hunting and consumption of bushmeat and the level of economic development, and pointed out that the issue of bushmeat hunting, and the threat it poses to endangered species, notably the Great Apes, must be addressed in the context of overall development strategy and poverty alleviation. Communities that traditionally relied on bushmeat as their principal source of animal protein must be assisted to develop the means to purchase other foodstuffs. Commercial networks to supply other meats and fish should be encouraged and assisted. Parliament went on to urge the Commission to support the effective management of protected areas, the development of systems of sustainable use of bushmeat species, and the establishment of alternative livelihoods. These alternatives should focus on improving domestic livestock production, as well as other projects such as ecotourism. EU financial support should be provided for ecotourism in order to encourage local communities to protect endangered species, particularly the Great Apes. In addition, the Commission needs to give special attention in its Strategy to the timber companies which allow, promote and facilitate the use of bushmeat. It should propose legislation to ban the import of products of companies which act illegally and aggravate the bushmeat problem by allowing their workers to hunt for bushmeat or use their transport facilities to transport poached bushmeat. Finally, the Commission should co-operate with countries where bushmeat is found to ensure that all their Country Strategy Papers and National Indicative Programmes pay attention to the bushmeat problem and nature conservation in general. An appropriate proportion of the available EDF and ALA funding must be dedicated to these subjects, and to renegotiate those programmes which lack sufficient attention to these problems with countries where the bushmeat problem is most critical, in particular in Central and West Africa.�