Multiagent simulations of hunting wild meat in a village in eastern Cameroon

This paper is based on a study of blue duiker hunting in Djemiong, a forest village in eastern Cameroon. The aim of the study is to understand how the organization of the hunting activity between villagers constitutes a management system. The main species hunted is a small antelope, the blue duiker (Cephalophus monticola, Thunberg). Surveys were conducted to understand the inhabitants' hunting behaviour. Hunting takes place 6 months/year and is subject to a spatial shifting rule. Every year, each hunter changes the location of his traps. This behaviour is presented as a management rule that is implemented by the hunters. A spatially explicit individual-based model is used to compare different rules for trap locations in space and time. We propose a model based on the use of multiagent systems. Creating a multiagent system involves reproducing an artificial world that resembles the observed world - i.e. it is made up of different actors - for experimental purposes. Each agent is represented as an independent computerized entity capable of acting locally in response to stimuli or to communication with other agents. CORMAS (Common-pool resources and multiagent systems), a generic simulation environment based on SMALLTALK, makes it possible to build flexible spatially explicit individual-based models. Using this multiagent simulation software, a model was built based on the life history of the blue-duiker and on the inhabitants' hunting behaviour. The model incorporates data from a geographical information system (GIS) to create an artificial landscape that resembles the village landscape. The results highlight the importance of coordination between hunters, particularly the fact that trap networks are appropriated by family groups. The spatial location of traps seems to have a much more crucial influence on the model than global hunting pressure and the duration of the close season. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.