"We Hunt to Escape a Problem, Not to Destroy": Cultural Meanings, Shared Knowledge, and Conservation Implications of Campesino Hunting in Nicaragua

Abstract

Hunting is a vital source of income, protein, cultural traditions, knowledge, and identity for many local communities. Conservationists and policy makers must balance the competing needs of wildlife and vulnerable hunting cultures to achieve effective conservation. In Latin America, hunters mostly identify as either indigenous or campesino. Although both groups are marginalized and disenfranchised, indigenous hunters are often perceived as “ecologically noble savages” whose hunting cultures, traditions, and knowledge represent an innate conservation ethic. Campesinos, in contrast, are considered mere “peasants” who lack the hunting cultures, traditions, knowledge, and environmental ethics required for sustainable hunting. These perceptions have restricted conservation research and practice with campesino hunters and their cultures – the largest group of hunters in Latin America. The research is based on a literature review and 11-months of ethnographic field work in the campesino community of El Pizotero, Nicaragua to address the following questions: 1) What is the state of knowledge about campesino hunting? 2) How do perceptions and practices of hunting connect to campesino identity and culture? And 3) how does local and traditional ecological knowledge (LTK) from hunting contribute to campesino hunting culture? The review of 80 years (1937-2018) of hunting papers with campesinos revealed that it is a growing area of bilingual and interdisciplinary scholarship. Yet, this body of literature is geographically and contextually disjointed, and does not represent a cohesive area of study. In particular, scholars appear to study campesinos to understand their hunting rather than hunting to understand campesinos. Ethnographic analysis revealed that campesino culture and hunting were inseparable. Hunting emerged from survival as a worldview imbedded in a campesino identity framed around agricultural subsistence to escape the harsh realities of the campo, including shared experiences with poverty. Indigeneity was not a significant element of identity or hunting for most campesinos. However, campesino hunting LTK was a significant source of shared cultural knowledge for hunters and non-hunters. It was expressed and transmitted through hunting stories, beliefs, knowledge about hunted mammals, relationships with hunting dogs, and meat preparation and sharing practices. These findings have implications for conservation efforts with marginalized campesinos and their ‘invisible’ hunting cultures.