Socio-anthropology of traditional wildlife exploitation mechanisms among the Turumbu people, DRC: What are the challenges for biodiversity conservation?

There is no doubt about the role of wildlife in food security and maintaining ecosystem balance. The effects of formal hunting rules on wildlife remain imperfectly understood. The traditional mechanisms in some cultures offer a good opportunity to regulate the exploitation of this vital resource. By conducting a socio-anthropological study of these mechanisms among the Turumbu people, it was possible to determine the non-food motivations for wildlife exploitation and to analyse the issues at stake in customary wildlife rules and the symbolic values that underlie them. To achieve this, data was collected through surveys (involving a questionnaire and semi-structured interview) of hunters, consumers and customary authorities. The data was processed using statistical and content analyses, and explained using Weber’s comprehensive sociology. It emerged that 43 animal species are prized for political (collection of insignia of power), zootherapeutic and social regulation purposes (customary rites, (dis)enchantment, etc.) and 27 of them are prohibited from being commercially hunted to avoid undermining sacred customs. Customary rules—and the symbolic value attached to them—regulate the exploitation of wildlife. They are compatible with biodiversity conservation because they regulate both hunting and consumption of wildlife. However, these rules are not widely followed, so they do not significantly influence hunting practices (customary status of species, p-value = 0.2922886; customary closing period, p-value = 0.3875895). From a generational point of view, more old people than young people respect the ban on certain species (p-value = 0.00215), which is not the case for suspension of hunting, where the tendency to respect it is not a function of age (p-value = 0.879). This calls for a review of the alternatives to bushmeat currently on offer.