Natural Resources Conservation Service

ABSTRACT An assessmcnt of subsistenl:c hunting and natural resourl:C management among Jul’hoansi Bushmen (San) over a period of 30 years from the 1960s to 1995 was car-ried out as part of anthropological investigations of remote foraging and food-producing pop-ulations in the northwestern Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and Namibia. The JuI’hoansi pursue a diversified set of resource management and utilization stratcgies. cxploit-ing over 50 species of mammals. birds. and other fauna using a variety of tools and tech-niqucs. Wildlife offtake rates in the 1960s,,’ere well below replal:cment rates. Although changes havc occurred over time in tcchnology and in the use of dogs. donkeys, and horses in hunting, the numbers of animals taken by subsistence hunters were still below sustainable yields in 1995, and wildlife products continue to playa significant role in the socioeconomic and ideological systems of JuJ’hoansi. These findings underscore the importance of ensuring a continuation of the right to hunt legally and to engage in local community-based natural resourcc managcment projccts. Key Words: Kalahari Desert; JuI’hoansi; Subsistencc; Hunting; Socioeconomic change.