Flexible local ecological knowledge surveillance indicators reveal long-term change in the Yangambi wildmeat system

Abstract

Conservation and management in Indigenous hunting systems requires an understanding of social-ecological change. We present the Flexible Local Ecological Knowledge Surveillance Indicators (FLEKSI) framework, which uses standardized questionnaires to derive time series of semi-quantitative LEK state indicators that can support ecosystem-based management. We applied FLEKSI in the Weko hunting territory of the Yangambi landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo. The aim was to capture Indigenous and local knowledge of how the wildmeat system has changed during the living memory of participating hunters. Most respondents believed that larger target species have become less abundant and more wary over the last 30 years, while the local wildmeat market has grown. Perceived declines in animal populations contrasted with the view that the broader forest ecosystem remains relatively unchanged. The FLEKSI descriptors and indicator questions can be readily tailored for a given social-ecological system, with potential for general application in data-limited hunting and fishing systems.