Consuming sustainably sourced wild meat instead of domesticated livestock reduces greenhouse gas emissions and retains precious tropical forest systems, which in turn mitigates the effects of climate change.
That’s according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Brazil’s Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, published today in the journal Scientific Reports.
The research team also estimated the carbon credit value of emissions from tropical forest communities who consume wild meat instead of domesticated livestock.
André Nunes from the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul and Carlos Peres, Professor of Conservation Science at UEA, working with Brazilian and Danish colleagues, looked at people living in both Afrotropical and Neotropical countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.
The team estimated potential revenues from the sale of associated carbon credits and how this could generate financial incentives for forest conservation and sustainable wildlife management through PES and REDD+ projects.
Brazilian Amazonia, in the Riozinho da Liberdade Extractive Reserve, in the state of Acre. (Photo Credit: André Nunes)
Read more at: University of East Anglia