Abstract:
Wildlife has the potential to
support people’s livelihoods and economic
development in many African countries. The
objective of the review was to evaluate the
potential contribution of wildlife to people’s
livelihoods and economic development in
Africa. Several databases were searched to
identify articles that have explored the
contributions of wildlife to people’s
livelihoods and economic development. The
results indicate that wildlife contributes both
consumptive and non-consumptive resources
towards people’s livelihoods, with bush meat
being the greatest consumptive contribution
and employment the greatest nonconsumptive
contribution. Revenue collected
from tourists, trophy hunting, and game
viewing have been used for infrastructure
and rural development. However, wildlife
has declined in many African countries due
to land redistribution, drought, habitat
fragmentation, human population growth,
and illegal hunting. Setting up law
enforcement agents and creating communitybased
wildlife management could restore the
benefits of wildlife.
