Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 3.2
Use of market data—pigs in Sulawesi.
There are two species of endemic wild pig traded in north Sulawesi, the Sulawesi
Wild Pig (
Sus celebensis
) and the endangered babirusa (
Babyrousa babyrussa
).
Active conservation intervention aimed at halting the illegal trade in babirusas
includes checkpoints on the road and awareness-raising with hunters and local
villagers. Data were collected from 1993 to 1999 by a local monitor in the main
market selling babirusas. She did her weekly household shopping in the market,
and while there noted the quantities and prices of meats on sale. Traders were not
aware that she was collecting these data. This technique allowed data on pig sales
to be collected independently of conservation actions, which made the dataset a
useful indicator of the effectiveness of conservation actions.
The data show that although the overall number of wild pigs on sale in the mar-
ket did not trend over time, there was dramatic variation in babirusa sales. This
variation coincided with law enforcement episodes (Figure 3.4).
0.6
120
0.5
100
0.4
80
0.3
60
0.2
40
0.1
20
0.0
0
PropB
Total
Fig. 3.4.
The number of wild pigs and proportion of babirusas on sale
in Manado market, 1993-1999. Arrows show occasions on which
government inspectors visited the market looking for protected species on
sale and/or checkpoints were carried out on the roads. As traders got used
to these actions, their reaction became less drastic, with a shorter and
shorter period in which babirusas were not sold, as they realised they would
not be prosecuted. From 1997 an awareness raising programme began
among traders, which seems to have reduced the baseline proportion of
babirusas sold.
Source
: Milner-Gulland and Clayton (2002).
