Hunting and the Hunter: a Critical Review of Brazilian Legislation on the Use of Wildlife by Indigenous Populations and Traditional in the Amazon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37002/biodiversidadebrasileira.v8i2.779Keywords:
Subsistence hunting, traditional lifestyle, rights, legalization, Amazon rainforest, food securityAbstract
In addition to providing food for traditional indigenous and non-indigenous populations in remote areas, hunting also has an important social role in the structure of these societies. In this article, we conceptualize subsistence hunting beyond the preservationist vision prevalent in the fields of environmental and legal sciences, and offer an integrated perspective that contemplates ecological, social, economic and legal aspects. Although the demographic and ecosystem impacts often attributed to subsistence hunting are well documented, natural intrinsic mechanisms of population recovery such as reproductive rate, source-sink dynamics or local arrangements demonstrate the resilience of socio-ecological systems to wildlife extraction. As such, strategies for nature conservation coupled with sustainable use of game species, based on in situ management systems, can be designed and gradually implemented. Although legally a “subsistence hunter” is only explicitly defined in the Disarmament Statute (Law 10.826 / 2003), the right to subsistence hunting is (or should be) endorsed on the broader principle of human dignity, as stated on the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution (CF/88). This right is also recognized by the National System of Food and Nutrition Security, covering rural human populations in a constant state of necessity,
either by the immediate need to quench hunger (as defined in the Environmental Crimes Law), or because
such populations reside in regions where hunting and fishing are generally the main sources of animal
protein. Because it is one of the oldest practices for obtaining food and inherent to the physical and cultural
reproduction of traditional populations, the right to hunt is supported by a broad legal framework in Brazil,
including adherence to Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO, ratified in Brazil by
the Decree 5.051/2004), the National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Indigenous Peoples and
Communities (Decree 6.04/2007) and the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC - Law 9.985 /
2000). However, there are legal contradictions (between preservationist laws and those that promote human
rights and the sustainable use of natural resources) due to interpretative discretion in statements that lack
conceptualization or definition (“subsistence hunting”, “state of necessity”). In addition, the prohibitive and
repressive nature of subsistence hunting prevails in accordance with the publication of the Law on Protection of Wildlife (Law 5,197 / 1967). The result is the perpetuation of the social, nutritional and jurisdictional
insecurity of subsistence hunters. The absence of policies for the practice of subsistence hunting prevents the development of effective and participatory tools for wildlife conservation and management, and the
consequent benefits for natural resources and ecosystems.
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