Review: One of the issues that arises in conservation from time to time is the issue of local/indigenous use of resources that are regarded as having conservation status. The issue covers a range of ideas from ethics (do indigenous people have continuing rights to harvest a protected resource?) to economics (what brings in more money - wildlife tourism or meat trading?). These are serious issues especially if we accept the idea that population growth appears to be greatest near biological hotspots. Apart from all these questions there lies the ultimate one of the size (and therefore importance) of the wildlife trade. This book is one of the few that attempts to quantify the trade and to ask if there is anything that we need to be concerned about.

By its very nature, illegal trading us unlikely to leave good records of operation. This means that proxies need to be chosen and the data are always going to be suspect. Trade routes are not always going to be easy to trace and the amount of protein taken by various groups will not be accurately kept. Its with this background that the editors start with an introduction - an overview of the nature and scale of the problem. From this point, the book is divided into four parts. The first part looks at the importance of bushmeat to people. It becomes very clear that the main area for bushmeat is Africa and especially the West and Central areas. Even here, data are scarce and there must, of necessity, be some extrapolation. Bearing these points in mind, the six chapters examine the industry. We start with a case from Sierra Leone where bushmeat is invaluable when other resources are low. It's not just for the "hungry season" but its also about finding a source of income when others do not exist. Chapter two examines the trade in Ghana. Here it's a multi-million dollar industry - hardly small-scale but clearly unsustainable. Again, we see it as a central part of the economy. Chapter three questions the extent to which the bushmeat trade can remain as a market rather than professional trade. It's a key question because if it could be sustained it could provide income where little currently exists - the central focus must be on viability. Chapter four moves to Cameroon where bushmeat is more than trade - it has social and cultural dimensions as well. This opens up fresh problems because it is not a question of replacing an economic activity but of addressing the social and cultural needs of the area. One solution would be to encourage the domestic meat trade (chapter five) but here there are problems not just of getting the animals to exist in the conditions but also bringing in knowledge of livestock husbandry where none exists. Finally, a study in Zambia demonstrates that bushmeat trade exists when there are few other avenues and this has implications for an nearby conservation efforts. Part two focusses on the institutions involved. The first study highlights the differing perspectives of agencies where international concern about wildlife trade is not matched by a more positive, local one. Chapter eight takes this further suggesting that it is the local perspective that should take precedence because it can provide the governance and legitimacy that would finally underpin sustainable bushmeat trading. The theme of chapter nine is bushmeat and logging where work in the Congo is showing what can be done to use experience in the latter to provide stricter controls of the former. It's a case of extra-governmental influence. Finally, in chapter 10, some ideas of successful management are put forward. Part three brings together the ideas of the the first two parts. It draws some fundamental conclusions about the trade in terms of actors and management. It suggests ways forward whereby people can both get a living and also conserve the wildlife which takes it beyond the usual conservation debate. Chapter 11 describes a successful project in Zambia whereby those living in wildlife areas could access farming incomes as well. Not all wildlife areas have to do with wildlife. A project in Mexico and Bolivia describes how non-timber forest products could be used thus broadening the impact on the forest and reducing the effects on specific species. In terms of getting some concrete improvement chapters 13 and 14 are complimentary although at opposite ends. The former looks at the extent to which bushmeat is used in drawing up poverty reduction schemes whilst the latter shows what can be done when a formal scheme gets it right. Part four's solitary chapter takes the bushmeat debate out of Africa to compare it with other markets specifically Asia.

This is a rare book on a neglected topic. Although aimed at conservation specialists (for whom it would be a very useful avenue to explore) there is much to recommend it in a wider sense. It describes dilemmas common in other conservation debates and lifts the poor out of their usual role and places them centrally in the conservation debate. As a case study it is very useful; as part of the greater conservation debate it deserves a wider readership.