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 tion 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.
References
Abrahams, M.I.; Peres, C.A. & Costa, H.C. 2017. Measuring local depletion of terrestrial game vertebrates by central-place hunters in rural Amazonia. PloS one, 12(10), e0186653.
Aguiar, J.P.L. 1996. Notas e Comunicações. Tabela de Composição de Alimentos da Amazônia. Acta Amazônica, 26(1/2): 121-126.
Albert, B. & Le Tourneau, F.M. 2007. Ethnogeography and resource use among the Yanomami: Toward a model of "reticular space". Current anthropology, 48(4): 584-592.
Alvard, M.; Robinson, J.; Redford, K.H. & Kaplan, H. 1997. The sustainability of subsistence hunting in the Neotropics. Conservation Biology, 11: 977-982.
Antunes, A.P.; Fewster, R.M.; Venticinque, E.M.; Peres, C.A.; Levi, T.; Rohe, F. & Shepard, G.H. 2016. Empty forest or empty rivers? A century of commercial hunting in Amazonia. Science Advances, 2(10): e1600936.
Ayres, J.M. & Ayres, C. 1979. Aspectos da caça no alto rio Aripuanã. Acta Amazonica, 9(2): 287-298.
Beckerman, S. 1979. The abundance of protein in Amazonia: a reply to Gross. American Anthropologist, 81(3): 533-560.
Berkes, F. & Turner, N.J. (2006). Knowledge, learning and the evolution of conservation practice for socialecological system resilience. Human Ecology, 34(4): 479.
Bodmer, R.E. 1995. Managing Amazonian wildlife: Biological correlates of game choice by detribalized hunters. Ecological Applications, 5: 872-877.
Bodmer, R.E.; Fang, T.G.; Moya, I. & Gill, R. 1994. Managing wildlife to conserve Amazonian forests: population biology and economic considerations of game hunting. Biological Conservation, 67: 29-35.
Bodmer, R.E.; Eisenberg, J. & Redford, K.H. 1997. Hunting and the likelihood of extinction of Amazonian mammals. Conservation Biology, 11(2): 460-466.
Bodmer, R.E. & Robinson, J.G. 2004. Evaluating the Sustainability of Hunting in the Neotropics, p. 299- 323. In: Silvius, K.M.; Bodmer, R.E. & Fragoso, J.M.V. (orgs.). People in Nature: Wildlife Conservation in South and Central America. Columbia University Press.
Bonaudo, T.; Le Pendu, Y.; Chardonnet P. & Jori. F. 2001. Chasse de subsistance sur un front pionnier amazonien: le cas d'Uruará. Revue Élev. Méd. vét. Pays trop., 54(3-4): 281-286.
Brum, S.M.; Rossoni, F. & Antunes, A.P. 2013. Caracterização da pesca de subsistência na várzea da RDS Piagaçu-Purus, baixo Purus, Amazonas. In: Anais do Seminário Anual de Pesquisa. IDSM.
Buckland, S.T.; Anderson, D.R.; Burnhan, K.P.; Lake, J.L.; Borchers, D.L. & Thomas, L. 2004. Advance Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations. Campman and Hall.
Calouro, A.M. & Marinho-Filho, J.S. 2005. A caça e a pesca de subsistência entre seringueiros ribeirinhos e não-ribeirinhos da Floresta Estadual do Antimary (AC), p. 109-135. In: Drumond, P.M. (org.). Fauna do Acre. EDUFAC.
Campos-Silva, J.V. & Peres, C.A. (2016). Community-based management induces rapid recovery of a highvalue tropical freshwater fishery. Scientific Reports, 6: 34745.
Campos-Silva, J.V.; Peres, C.A.; Antunes, A.P.; Valsecchi, J. & Pezzuti, J. 2017. Community-based population recovery of overexploited Amazonian wildlife. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, 15(4): 266-270.
Castello, L.; Viana, J.P.; Watkins, G.; Pinedo-Vasquez, M. & Luzadis, V.A. 2009. Lessons from integrating fishers of arapaima in small-scale fisheries management at the Mamirauá Reserve, Amazon. Environmental Management, 43: 197-209.
Castello, L.; Arantes, C.C.; Mcgrath, D.G.; Stewart, D.J. & Sousa, F.S.D. 2015. Understanding fishing-induced extinctions in the Amazon. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 25: 587-598.
Carvalho Jr, E.A.R. & Morato, R.G. 2013. Factors affecting big cat hunting in Brazilian protected areas. Tropical Conservation Science, 6(2): 303-310.
CBD - Convenção sobre a Diversidade Biológica. 2016. Decision adopted by the conference of the parties to the convention on biological diversity XIII/8. Sustainable use of biodiversity: bushmeat and sustainable wildlife management.
Colding, J. & Folke, C. 2001. Social taboos: ‘invisible' systems of local resource management and biological conservation. Ecological Applications, 11(2): 584-600.
Constantino, P.A.L. 2015. Dynamics of hunting territories and prey distribution in Amazonian Indigenous Lands. Appl. Geogr. 56: 222-231.
Constantino, P.D.A.L.; Fortini, L.B.; Kaxinawa, F.R.S.; Kaxinawa, A.M.; Kaxinawa, E.S.; Kaxinawa, A.P. & Kaxinawa, J.P. (2008). Indigenous collaborative research for wildlife management in Amazonia: The case of the Kaxinawá, Acre, Brazil. Biological Conservation, 141(11): 2718-2729.
Constantino, P.; Carlos, H.; Ramalho, E.; Rostant, L.; Marinelli, C.E.; Teles, D. & Valsecchi, J. (2012). Empowering local people through community-based resource monitoring: a comparison of Brazil and Namibia. Ecology and Society, 17(4).
Conti, I.L. & Schroeder, E.O. 2013. ConviveÌ‚ncia com o SemiaÌrido Brasileiro: Autonomia e Protagonismo Social. Fundação de Apoio da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - FAURGS/ REDEgenteSAN / Instituto Brasileiro de Desenvolvimento e Sustentabilidade - IABS / AgeÌ‚ncia Espanhola de Cooperação Internacional para o Desenvolvimento - AECID / MinisteÌrio do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate aÌ€ Fome - MDS / Editora IABS.
Danielsen, F.; Balete, D.S.; Poulsen, M.K.; Enghoff, M.; Nozawa, C.M. & Jensen, A.E. (2000). A simple system for monitoring biodiversity in protected areas of a developing country. Biodiversity & Conservation, 9(12): 1671-1705.
De Castro, J. Geografia da fome: a fome no Brasil. O Cruzeiro, 1946. Dirzo, R. & Miranda, A. 1991. Altered patterns of herbivory and diversity in the forest understory: a case study of the possible consequences of contemporary defaunation, p. 273-287. In: Price, P.W. Lewinsohn, P.W. Fernandes, G.W. & Benson, W.W. (orgs). Plant-animal interactions: evolutionary ecology in tropical and temperate regions. John Wiley.
Dufour, D.L.; Piperata, B.A.; Murrieta, R.S.; Wilson, W.M. & Williams, D.D. 2016. Amazonian foods and implications for human biology. Annals of human biology, 43(4): 330-348. Endo, W.; Peres, C.A.; Salas, E.; Mori, S.; Shepard, G.H. & Pacheco, V. 2010a. Game vertebrate densities in hunted and nonhunted forest sites in Manu National Park, Peru. Biotropica, 42(2): 251-261.
Endo, W., Peres, C.A., & Rebêlo, G.H. 2010b. Padrões de uso da vida silvestre entre os Baniwa, p. 114-121. In: Cabalzar, A. (org). Manejo do mundo: conhecimentos e práticas dos povos indígenas do Rio Negro. Instituto Sociambental (ISA)/Federação das Organizações Indígenas do Rio Negro (FOIRN).
Endo, W.; Peres, C.A. & Haugaasen, T. 2016. Flood pulse dynamics affects exploitation of both aquatic and terrestrial prey by Amazonian floodplain settlements. Biological Conservation, 201: 129-136.
Fragoso, J.M.; Levi, T.; Oliveira, L.F.; Luzar, J.B.; Overman, H.; Read, J.M. & Silvius, K.M. 2016. Line transect surveys underdetect terrestrial mammals: Implications for the sustainability of subsistence hunting. PloS one, 11(4): e0152659.
Gross, D.R. 1975. Protein capture and cultural development in the Amazon Basin. American Anthropologist, 77(3): 526-549.
Gubert, M.B.; Benício, M.H.D.A. & Santos, L.M.P.D. 2010. Estimativas de insegurança alimentar grave nos municípios brasileiros. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 26(8): 1595-1605.
Hurtado-Gonzales, J.L. & Bodmer, R.E. 2004. Assessing the sustainability of brocket deer hunting in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Communal Reserve, northeastern Peru. Biological Conservation, 116(1): 1-7.
Ingold, T. 2000. The optimal forager and economic man. The perception of the environment: essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. Psychology Press.
Isaac, V.J. & De Almeida, M.C. 2011. El consumo de pescado en la amazonía brasileña. Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación - FAO.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Biodiversidade Brasileira - BioBrasil
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Os artigos estão licenciados sob uma licença Creative Commons Atribuição-NãoComercial-SemDerivações 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). O acesso é livre e gratuito para download e leitura, ou seja, é permitido copiar e redistribuir o material em qualquer mídia ou formato.