Wildlife Wild Livelihoods

2018 UNEP Report produced by SULi & IIED

UN Environment Assembly Resolution 2/14 on Illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products calls for an analysis of international best practice with regard to involving local communities in wildlife management. In response to this resolution, UN Environment has commissioned the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the International Institute for Environment and Development to prepare this report.

The report summarizes insights from decades of research on community wildlife management, and draws lessons from new analyses focused specifically on engaging Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in combating the illegal trade in wildlife (ITW). Based on a recognition of the importance of community “voice” in enabling sustainable and effective outcomes, it goes on to survey the opportunities and constraints for IPLCs in terms of their participation in key international policy forums that influence wildlife management (specifically, the Convention on Biological Diversity; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; the Convention on Migratory Species; the United Nations Environment Assembly; and the Inter-governmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). The long history of experience in community wildlife management remains crucially relevant for current efforts to combat the ITW crisis, but has been largely overlooked in the race for solutions emphasizing a top-down and increasingly militarized approach. In particular, effective enforcement requires community support for conservation and cooperation with authorities. The community wildlife management literature indicates when this is most likely to be forthcoming, and when it is not. Efforts to address unsustainable use and ITW often pay lip service to these lessons but fail to reflect them in the design and implementation of new programmes. Community-based approaches are frequently written off as ineffective, even before the necessary effort has been made to put in place the conditions that will make them effective. Building robust opportunities for IPLCs to be heard and to exercise their rights at all levels is critical in promoting more effective and equitable wildlife conservation strategies.