The SWM Project in Gabon
GABON
© Brent Stirton/Getty Images for FAO, CIFOR, CIRAD, WCSSWM PROJECT
The forests in the Congo Basin are home to an extremely rich diversity of animal and plant life. The Mulundu Department in the Ogooué-Lolo Province, is home to a diversity and abundance of wildlife, which provide an important source of protein and income for communities in small rural villages. However, the growing demand for wild meat in secondary towns and metropolitan areas could affect the availability of resources for these village communities.
The SWM Programme in Gabon aims to promote sustainable management of village hunting and the local wild meat trade, whilst increasing the supply of alternative proteins. SWM activities in Gabon are coordinated by CIRAD, in collaboration with local communities and Gabon’s Ministry of Water and Forests.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The SWM Programme in Gabon supports 10 communities who have established community hunting associations.
- Since 2019, over 100 camera traps have collected 86 500 wildlife videos, and 325 hunters have registered 18 500 catches and geolocated over 7000 hunting routes.
- Communities use this information to define the sustainable level of hunting and update their hunting plans each year.
- In partnership with the Institut de recherche en écologie tropicale (IRET) and the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherches médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), the SWM Programme is developing a health risk monitoring system for the wild meat sector in Gabon.
- The Ministry of Water and Forests is working with the SWM Programme on a National Hunting and Game Trade Strategy to improve the legal framework for hunting in Gabon.