Insights for policy and practice

Learn more about our main findings, and find links to the underlying research base.

Research on the impact of hunting on biodiversity has shown that hunting can be a force for good in conserving biodiversity. There is evidence that hunting can achieve goals for biodiversity because of the conservation focus many hunting systems have. But where hunting has negative consequences there are strong cultural reasons why this is maintained. Thus there is a need to understand the cultural and institutional frameworks in which hunting operates if policy is to achieve the goal of utilising hunting to managing our wildlife sustainably.

Download the WP summaries as pdf:

WP1: The cultural meaning of hunting

• Moralities of hunting
• Hunting as stewardship
• Bushmeat hunting in western Serenget1 (Tanzania) and the Omo valley (Ethiopia)

WP2: Institutional aspects of hunting in Europe & Eastern Africa

• On the multufunctionality of hunting - an institutional analysis of eight cases from Europe and Africa
• The vertical dimension - Interplay between institutions at different levels, and the influence of international policies on local governance
• The horizontal dimension: Interplay between institutions and institutional change at the local level
• The "scenario workshop" method - a participatory tool to develop governance approaches to address conflicts over hunting and wildlife management

WP3: Economics

• The values associated with hunting - summary of key messages

WP4: Hunting, sustainable harvesting and consequences for biodiversity

• Relationships between hunting management and conservation of biodiversity
• Social-ecological modelling for improved sustainability of hunting

WP5: Integration

• Integrating multiple values: the "value" of hunting
• Integrating research on HUNTing