Contributed Paper Assessing Sustainability at Multiple Scales in a Rotational Bushmeat Hunting System NO ¨ ELLE F. K ¨ UMPEL, ∗ †‡§ E. J. MILNER-GULLAND,† GUY COWLISHAW, ∗ AND J. MARCUS ROWCLIFFE ∗ ∗ Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom †Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom ‡Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom Abstract: Results of many studies show unsustainable levels of bushmeat hunting across West/Central Africa. Nevertheless, these results are usually derived from snapshot sustainability indices in which critical parameters are often taken from the literature. Simple, more informative tools for assessing sustainability are needed. We evaluated the impact of bushmeat hunting across a range of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic scales in a comparison of different measures of sustainability. Over 15 months in 2002–2004 in and around a village close to Equatorial Guinea’s Monte Al´en National Park, we collected data via a village offtake survey, hunter-camp bushmeat-consumption diaries, hunter interviews, and following hunters during hunts. We compared 2003 data with a previous offtake survey (1998–1999) and interview reports back to 1990. In the past 14 years, average distance from the village at which hunters operated remained constant, with hunters switching back and forth between long-established camps, although trapping effort increased. In the past 5 years, overall offtake and number of active hunters did not change substantially, although catch per unit effort (CPUE) decreased slightly. Although the proportion of the two most commonly trapped species ( Cephalophus monticola and Atherurus africanus) and gun-hunted primates increased in the offtake, species presumably less robust to trapping decreased slightly. Apparent sustainability in economic terms may be masking gradual local extirpation of more vulnerable species before and during this study. Our results suggest that changes in prey profiles and CPUE may be the most accurate indicators of actual sustainability; these indices can be monitored with simple village-based offtake surveys and hunter interviews to improve community management of bushmeat hunting. Keywords: bushmeat, CPUE, Equatorial Guinea, hunting sustainability, prey profile, spatial-temporal scales, sustainability indices, trapping Evaluaci´ on de la Sustentabilidad en M´ ultiples Escalas en un Sistema Rotativo de Cacer´ ıa de Vida Silvestre Resumen: Los resultados de muchos estudios muestran niveles no sustentables de cacer´ ıa de carne de monte en ´ Africa central y occidental. Sin embargo, estos resultados generalmente se derivan de ´ ındices de sustentabilidad muy generales basados en par´ ametros que a menudo son tomados de la literatura. Se requieren herramientas simples, m´ as informativas, para evaluar la sustentabilidad. Evaluamos el impacto de la cacer´ ıa de carne de monte en un rango de escalas, temporales, espaciales y taxon´ omicas en una comparaci´ on de diferentes medidas de sustentabilidad. Por m´ as de 15 meses en 2002–2004, en y alrededor de una aldea cercana al Parque Nacional Monte Al´en de Guinea Occidental, recolectamos datos a partir de una encuesta, diarios de consumo de cazadores, entrevistas a cazadores y acompa˜ namiento a cazadores durante sus cacer´ ıas. Comparamos 2003 datos con los de un muestreo previo (1998–1999) y de entrevistas realizadas en 1990. En los ´ ultimos 14 a˜ nos, la distancia promedio de la aldea al sitio de cacer´ ıa permaneci´ o constante, con los cazadores movi´ endose entre campamentos establecidos con mucha anterioridad, aunque §email noelle.kumpel@zsl.org Paper submitted July 12, 2009; revised manuscript accepted August 14, 2009. 861 Conservation Biology, Volume 24, No. 3, 861–871 C 2010 Society for Conservation Biology DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01505.x