 Leo and his colleague Barbara are involved in a program called Sustainable Wildlife Management. They focus on helping communities manage the wildlife they depend on. In healthy, dynamic and sustainable ways, they do this by learning from the locals' intimate knowledge of the wildlife in their area. One day, upon returning from a trip with the local village hunters, Barbara is surprised to see her cousin Kobe in the village. Kobe lives in another village far away. Although Kobe seems happy to see her, Barbara can sense something is wrong. That evening, Kobe tells Barbara that although he understands that wildlife numbers go up and down from year to year, there has been a noticeable drop in numbers for a long time now. This means village hunters must travel further to hunt. Barbara shares Kobe's concern. Having a stable wildlife population that doesn't decline in the long term is vital to serving the community's needs and maintaining a healthy natural environment. But finding a balance between the two can be difficult. Kobe tells Barbara he has a young son back home and is worried about his future. Barbara says she and Leo will look into it. A few days later, they return with Kobe to his village and immediately start looking into the possible causes for the decline in wildlife. Barbara speaks to the farmers in the area. If forests have been cut to make room for agriculture or timber plantations, this could be part of the problem. Meanwhile, Leo speaks to the local elders to find out whether the number of people in the villages have grown. If there are more people, there will be a tendency to kill more wild animals to eat. But Leo is told that the villagers have not grown much as some of the young people have left to look for work and study in nearby towns. Leo and Barbara know that the drop in wildlife numbers could have resulted from a number of other factors. They explore the possibility of overhunting by the villagemen, perhaps for selling the meat to other communities or towns, or even to extractive industry camps in the area. Indeed, while talking to local hunters, they hear of a nearby area where there has been some logging activities. Activities like these can have a great impact on wildlife and Leo and Barbara decide it's definitely worth looking into. But they soon realize there's a much bigger problem. On their way to the logging concession, Kobe sees something out of the ordinary and asks Leo to stop. He notices that a small dirt track which forked from the main road has been upgraded since the last time he was in the area. He asks Leo to drive down the road. Not only has the road been upgraded, but smaller dirt tracks now fork into the forest. Leo and Barbara have seen this problem before. Although their intentions behind upgrading a road may have been good, it means hunters now have easier access to wildlife in more remote parts of the forest. It also allows wild meat to be quickly transported out of the forest to nearby towns. And it presents new opportunities for illegal loggers and miners too. While driving down one of the new roads, they see two hunters returning from the forest and approach them. The hunters tell them they live in a village nearby and that a growing number of hunters coming from the provincial town along the new road has been a major problem for them. Leo, Barbara and Kobe realize that the opening of new roads is quite possibly the main reason for the region's decline in wildlife. Back at the village, Kobe tells the elders what they have found. One of the elders suggests asking some of the young men to patrol the area. Kobe says that the road and side tracks cover a large area which will be difficult to guard. The village elder takes a moment to think about what Leo has said. He says a meeting must take place as soon as possible and invites all the leaders and village hunters from neighboring villages to attend. While sharing information at the meeting, the village leaders and hunters quickly realize that they all face similar challenges. The leaders draw up a map to highlight areas they are concerned about. One of the elders suggests that they use a community-based approach, putting hunting guidelines in place based on traditional hunting rules that the older hunters used to follow in the past. Another suggests introducing poultry farming, fish ponds or breeding palm grubs to ensure that there are other food sources which can ease the pressure on the wildlife. Leo and Barbara understand that the locals know their region and wildlife best and encourage them to share more ideas. Kobe brings up the need to monitor activities such as illegal hunting, mining, land clearing for agriculture and logging. The village leaders soon realize this is a task that needs a lot of collaboration and teamwork. Leo explains that it would be hard for one village to effectively manage this on their own and that they all need to work together. Barbara explains the benefits of introducing a way in which the community can measure the numbers and trends over time of hunted wildlife populations combining scientific and traditional knowledge. Everyone agrees this is a good idea. Leo shares the importance of working with their local authorities and government and with extractive industry managers so that they can all agree and work towards the same goals. The village leaders know that in order to protect their resources from outsiders, it's important to collaborate with trusted partners who can help them force community regulations. The meeting ends with leaders and elders agreeing that they need to work together. They understand that a balance is needed where all community members take care not to deplete their wildlife resources. This would be a big step in the right direction. Leo and Barbara are excited for the people of the region and for the health of their surrounding lands. They know they will always be challenges but communities that work together can achieve a lot. For these communities, the future is looking good. Key points. Wildlife is a shared resource and will disappear if not managed well. It should be managed by local communities and their trusted partners. Management cannot be a solitary exercise. It requires collective decision-making and action. Traditional rules combined with modern tools allow adaptive management. And SWM program is here to help communities with hunting management, protein development, coping with change and livelihood diversification to achieve levels of sustainable hunting.