A. Species
Scientific name: Rhynchophorus palmarum
Common name(s): South American palm weevil
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Peru
Country/Region: Peru / Amazonas
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Cenepa district (Huampami, Paisa, Achu, and Tseasim communities) and the e Imaza district (Shijap, San Mateo, Kusu, and Listra communities)
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2015
End Year: 2015
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Ranching, farming or cultivation or wild species
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)
Is this use legal or illegal?: unknown
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study and the general background it presents on wild insect semi-cultivation as a sustainable food source.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: For the reasons given above, under the impacts of use on these weevils, relating to their semi-cultivation, the study considers that this exploitation does not adversely effect the wild population stock. Noting, however, that deforestation is a risk factor in this region, potentially posing an unquantified threat to all elements of the ecosystem (weevils feeding on dead wood can initially do well when trees are felled).
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Economically, the authors suggest that the higher insect consumption by respondents with more children might indicate that insects play a more important role for larger families. The association with income could be influenced by the insects’ economic value because 40% of respondents were both consuming and selling insects.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The principle of this weevil collection and consumption is that it does not specifically depopulate wild-stock because local people provide more woody substrate (logs) to foster additional larvae production. Explicit mentions of social sustainability are, however, limited to: "These traditional indigenous community practices not only represent sustainable ways to harvest economically important resources, but they are also inevitably linked to the cultural identities." and "The Awajún communities have developed a rational insect resource management, applying sustainable collection and consumption patterns with occasional trading in the case of abundance.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: In terms of health, the study mentions that edible insects contribute a sustainable source of high-quality protein, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, and certain vitamins, especially B vitamins, with the exception of B12. This is important because the study refers to an earlier nutritional study performed in four Amazonas districts that determined that 33.4% of children suffered from chronic malnutrition, while 50.2% of women of childbearing age suffered from anemia. The study deduced that these results were probably caused by an unbalanced diet based on monotonous consumption of staple foods such as cassava and bananas (plantains) and low consumption of animal proteins; the larva of R. palmarum contain on average of 6.6 g of protein/100 g of fresh weight.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: On animal health and welfare, the nature of this use and the species involved raises no concerns and is less of an issue than alternative forms of animal farming / hunting in this region.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The study advocates for building on the nutritional benefits of insect eating in these poor and remote communities, encouraging more systematic cultivation to increase yield and food security,.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2018-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-16