A recent study examining “stop-and-search” seizures at Brussels’ international airport has shed light on the illegal trafficking of bushmeat into Europe, with an estimated four metric tons entering the continent monthly from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, and Cameroon. This unlawful trade, encompassing threatened species, poses significant risks to public health and biodiversity.
The research, conducted between January 2017 and October 2018, focused on travelers arriving at Brussels-Zaventem Airport from targeted West and Central African countries. Of the one million travelers from these regions, approximately 1% were subjected to airport border control searches. During this period, 687 kilograms (1,515 pounds) of bushmeat were confiscated. Extrapolating from these seizures, the researchers estimated that a staggering 80 metric tons of bushmeat entered the country in total, averaging nearly four metric tons per month.
Further analysis of the confiscated meat revealed a concerning mix of species, including livestock, bushmeat from rodents and mammals, and some fish. Notably, the researchers identified threatened species among the seized meat, including the endangered tree pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis), vulnerable African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis), and eight other species protected under the international wildlife trade convention known as CITES.
Importing CITES-listed species into Belgium can result in severe penalties, including heavy fines and prison sentences of up to five years. Nevertheless, the authors of the study pointed out that enforcement of these laws is currently extremely limited.
This study builds upon earlier research conducted at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport in 2008, where a similar examination of seizures over a two-week period suggested that five metric tons of bushmeat entered the French capital weekly. Anne-Lise Chaber, the first author of the study, expressed concern about the enduring growth of the international illegal meat trade over the past decade.
Chaber emphasized the broader consequences of overhunting, including the potential for local or global extinctions, disruptions to non-target species, alterations in species interactions, and impacts on ecosystem structure and function. The findings underscore the urgency of addressing this illicit trade to safeguard both public health and the planet’s biodiversity.
