Conservation news 653
ERIC DJOMO NANA (
orcid.org/0000-0002-6118-9359), CECILIA MANDAH TAKOR,STANDLY NKEMNYI NKENGBEZA, BARTHELEMY TCHIENGUE,ERIC T. NGANSOP and EMMANUEL TCHOPWE National Herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé, Cameroon. E-mail
eric.nana@
natconbio.org
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Gender and illegal wildlife trade: overlooked and underestimated
Wood of the Critically Endangered African zebrawood Microberlinia bisulcata logged illegally in Cameroon’sEbo forest.
wood is high because of its unique colour, texture and hard- ness. The species is not listed on the CITES appendices, although indiscriminate logging is a major problem, includ- ing a current increase in the Ebo forest, which was previously considered a safe haven for this and other species. During August 2020–March 2021 we surveyed the Ebo
forest to collect information on the rate of harvesting of this species and on the actors involved in the trade.We esti- mated that c. 2 tofM. bisulcata are smuggled out of the forest everymonth. In February 2020 the areawas gazetted as a log- ging concession. Given the current rate of illegal harvesting, we predict that within the next 2 years all seed-bearing indi- vidualswill have been logged, pushing the species to the brink of extinction.We identified five groups of actors involved in the trade of thiswood: initiators (landowners, or locally influ- ential people), prospectors (localmen paid to find andmark trees), harvesters (local men paid to cut the marked trees), transporters (owners of trucks paid to transport the logged wood to the nearby city of Douala) and buyers (local busi- nessmen or foreigners). We learnt that Chinese traders based in Douala pay USD 600/m3 of M. bisulcata wood, the price of which as doubled since 2018. The high price is probably the main reason for the current increase in illegal commercial harvesting. In addition, however, the decision to gazette the Ebo forest as a logging concession has inadver- tently encouraged local people to log valuable timber products before they are forbidden to access the forest. Based on our findings, wemake the following recommen-
dations: (1) the Ebo forest should be gazetted as a National Park, (2) the area needs to be reforested urgently with M. bisulcata,(3) alternative livelihood activities need to be implemented for the people living in the vicinity of the Ebo forest, and (4) M. bisulcata needs to be listed on a CITES appendix, prohibiting international trade in its wood.
Despite increasing awareness globally of the need to inte- grate and mainstream a gendered approach in international policy arenas, there remains gender-blindness in under- standing and responding to illegal wildlife trade. Research, thinking and responses to illegal wildlife trade have generally failed to look at half of the world’s population, and gender issues more generally, hence missing important entry points to understand, prevent and tackle the issue. Illegal wildlife trade involves and affects men and women differently, and gender norms play an important part in influencing behaviours and attitudes along the illegal wildlife trade value chain. Put simply, failing to consider gender is like tackling wildlife crime with one hand tied behind your back. The place, role and dynamics of wo- men and meninrelationtothis trade differ,soitiscrucial to consider the gendered implications of illegal wildlife trade if we are to respond in an inclusive and efficient manner to improve the likelihood of conservation success. In July 2021, WWF released a report, Gender & Illegal
Wildlife Trade: Overlooked and Underestimated,which paves theway formore inclusive and informed
responses.The report gives an overview of available gender-informed research, field evidence and concepts relating to poaching, trafficking and consumption of wildlife products, and international gover- nance and policy. It identifies key gaps and research needs, ex- plains why looking at illegal wildlife trade through the lens of gender is important, and provides recommendations and a practical framework to help conservation practitioners bring gender analysis into programmes, policies and interventions at local, national and global scales. This gender framework will be available online in September 2021. Another WWF report, also released in July 2021, Towards
Gender Equality in theRangerWorkforce highlights howgreat- er gender equality in the rangerworkforce could reduce ranger misconduct and improve conservation outcomes, relation- ships with communities, and park and wildlife management. We hope these reports and the gender frameworkwill pro-
vide a basis from which to deepen understanding around the importance of integrating gender into conservation. Research and publication were funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. For more information, contact Rob Parry-Jones, Head, Wildlife Crime Initiative
Oryx, 2021, 55(5), 649–655 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321000922
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