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Can Socioeconomic Variables Influence Bird Hunting Activity in the Brazil's Semi-Arid Region?

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Abstract

Bird hunting in Brazil's semi-arid region is a widespread practice with implications for biodiversity conservation and food security in local communities. This study evaluated how socioeconomic factors determine the activity level and bird hunting profile in Catimbau National Park where it is banned. We tested if gender, age, schooling, occupation, receipt of government aid, income, and the number of family members influence whether or not a person is a hunter, looking at past and present hunting activities. We also test if these same socioeconomic variables determine the hunting profile, influenced by the total known species, nature of hunting (food or other uses), and total known techniques. In seven peasant communities, we interviewed 47 respondents through semi-structured interviews. We conducted two multiple component analyses to characterize the profile of hunters. Our results show that socioeconomic factors do not define historical hunting. However, gender defines current activity, which is predominantly by men. We believe that the context of prohibition and penalization requires an evaluation of the cost and benefit of hunting activity, in which the risk of being arrested or losing government aid is factored in. The profile of bird hunters is not merely governed by socioeconomic logic.

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Notes

  1. The Bolsa Familia program is a federal government initiative of conditional cash transfer instituted by MP 132/03 and sanctioned under Law 10.689/2003.

  2. Although it may seem so, the authors would not like this statement to be understood as sexist content.

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Funding

To carry out this work, Ms. Ana karina Marques received a scholarship from Capes, as well as financial support from the National Institute of Science and Technology in Ethnobiology, Bioprospection and Nature Conservation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos, Departamento de Botânica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitária, PA, 50670-901, Recife, Brazil

    Ana Karina Marques & Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros s/n, 52171-900, Dois Irmãos, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Ana Karina Marques, Thiago da Silva Novato, Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque & Gustavo Taboada Soldati

  3. Laboratório de Sociobiodiversidade, Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Rua José Lourenço Kelmer, Juiz de Fora - MG, Campus Universitário, 36036-900, s/n - São Pedro, Brazil

    Thiago da Silva Novato & Gustavo Taboada Soldati

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  1. Ana Karina Marques
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Correspondence to Gustavo Taboada Soldati.

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Following all Brazilian legislation, the present study was conducted with the prior consent of all the people interviewed.

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Marques, A.K., da Silva Novato, T., de Albuquerque, U.P. et al. Can Socioeconomic Variables Influence Bird Hunting Activity in the Brazil's Semi-Arid Region?. Hum Ecol 50, 515–530 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00330-8

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