In Colombia, hunting for subsistence is only allowed for personal consumption. Consequently, the trade of surpluses for subsistence purposes (housing, health, education, etc.) is illegal. Despite the fact that Colombian law gives provision for legal wildlife trade, the lack of regulations to actually make it operational makes it in practice impossible for rural communities to legally trade bushmeat (wild game). While the requirements to obtain a license for this activity may be well-adapted for private companies trading high-value products (e.g. pelts), for rural communities they are extremely difficult and expensive to comply with. This impacts rural communities through constant confiscations of bushmeat, which in turn leads to an underground local market.

Authors: Van Vliet, N.

Subjects: meat animals, hunting, wildlife, food availability, food preferences, bushmeat, domestic trade, trade

Publication type: Magazine Article, Publication

Year: 2016