The economic value of human-honeyguide mutualism in Reserva Especial do Niassa, Moçambique

People in many rural societies rely on wild birds for their livelihoods, often without benefiting the birds. A notable exception is the mutually beneficial relationship between humans and the greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator), a wax-eating bird that guides people to bees’ nests. Humans gain honey for food and income, while the birds feed on beeswax. Here, we estimated the economic value of honeyguides to honey-hunters in Moçambique’s Reserva Especial do Niassa (REN), where these birds regularly help locate wild honey. From interviews and community-collected data we estimated that, on average, honey-hunters sold 37 L[CI: 30, 44] of honey annually, earning $63[CI: 50, 76], and that three-quarters of the honey volume harvested was found with honeyguides. From these estimates we determined that an average Niassa honey-hunter earned $48 in 2018 (or $80 when applying 2023 prices) from selling 28 L of honey collected with honeyguides. With REN’s high poverty levels and low employment rates, these earnings are likely vital to household subsistence. Surveys by community wildlife guardians estimated ∼ 500 honey-hunters selling honey in REN, generating a total of $23,900 in 2018, or $40,700 when applying 2023 prices, from honey collected with honeyguides. Honey-hunting with honeyguides is a unique and dwindling cultural tradition that continues to thrive in REN, offering significant economic, livelihood and cultural benefits to rural communities living in miombo woodlands. Safeguarding these habitats and ensuring human access to them is imperative not only for their material benefits, but also to preserve this shared human heritage of partnership with wildlife.