Juliet Wright

Background

My research and conservation work has focused on understanding the drivers of wildlife exploitation in tropical forests in order to develop more effective strategies to reduce unsustainable hunting, trade and consumption. My main area of interest is the wild meat trade in Central Africa. This interest grew out of a lifelong passion for great apes, which are one of many species groups threatened by the wild meat trade. I've spent more than 17 years working on research and conservation interventions across Central Africa, spending extended periods of time in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. I currently work as the Research Coordinator on the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Urban Bushmeat Project. As part of this role, I coordinate research activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo for the UKRI GCRF Trade, Development and the Environment Hub in collaboration with ICCS, ERAIFT and CIFOR. This includes research to understand motives for consuming wild meat, profile wild meat sellers, monitor changing perceptions of wild meat as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and evaluate the effectiveness of demand reduction campaigns. Prior to this role, I conducted my PhD with ICCS on the effectiveness of livelihood interventions in conservation, with an empirical focus on projects implemented to reduce wild meat hunting around protected areas in Cameroon.

Brief CV

2017 –                     Research Coordinator, Urban Bushmeat Project, Wildlife Conservation Society

2017 – 2017        Impact Evaluation Team Lead, CAMRIS International / USAID

2013 – 2021        PhD Conservation Science, Imperial College London / Zoological Society of London

2011 – 2013        Project Manager, Bushmeat Alternatives Project, Zoological Society of London

2009 – 2011        Project Officer, Bees for Development

2007 – 2011        Project Coordinator (voluntary), Lebialem Hunters’ Beekeeping Initiative

2007 – 2009       Conservation Educator (voluntary), Great Apes Film Initiative

2006 – 2007        MSc Primate Conservation, Oxford Brookes University

2002 – 2005        BSc Geography, University of Manchester

Papers

Wright, J.H. Malekani, D. Funk, S.M. Ntshila, J. Mayet, L. Mwinyihali, R. Fa, J.E. Wieland, M. (2022) Profiling the types of restaurants that sell wild meat in Central African cities. African Journal of Ecology 60, 197–204.

McNamara, J. Robinson, E.J.Z. Abernethy, K. Iponga, D.M. Sackey, H.N.K. Wright, J.H. Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2020) COVID-19, systemic crisis, and possible implications for the wild meat trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental and Resource Economics 76, 1045-1066.

Fa, J.E. Wright, J.H. Funk, S.M. Márquez, A.L. Olivero, J. Farfán, M.A. Guio, F. Mayet, L. Malekani, D. Louzolo, C.H. Mwinyihali, R. Wilkie, D.S. Wieland, M. (2019) Mapping the availability of bushmeat for consumption in Central African cities. Environmental Research Letters 14, 094002.

Chausson, A.M. Rowcliffe, J.M. Escouflaire, L. Wieland, M. Wright, J.H. (2019) Understanding the sociocultural drivers of urban bushmeat consumption for behavior change interventions in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo. Human Ecology 47(2), 179–91.

Wright, J.H. Hill, N.A.O. Roe, D. Rowcliffe, J.M. Kümpel, N. F. Day, M. Booker, F. Milner-Gulland, E.J. (2016) Reframing the concept of alternative livelihoodsConservation Biology 30, 7-13.

Roe, D. Booker, F. Day, M. Zhou, W. Allebone-Webb, S. Hill, N.A.O. Kümpel, N. Petrokofsky, G. Redford, K. Russell, D. Shepherd, G. Wright, J. Sunderland, T.C.H. (2015) Are alternative livelihood projects effective at reducing local threats to specified elements of biodiversity and/or improving or maintaining the conservation status of those elements?  Environmental Evidence 4, 1-22.

M. Zhou, W. Allebone-Webb, S. Hill, N.A.O. Kümpel, N. Petrokofsky, G. Redford, K. Russell, D. Shepherd, G. Wright, J. Sunderland, T.C.H. (2015) Are alternative livelihood projects effective at reducing local threats to specified elements of biodiversity and/or improving or maintaining the conservation status of those elements?  Environmental Evidence 4, 1-22.

Wright, J.H. Priston, N.E.C. (2010) Hunting and trapping in Lebialem Division, Cameroon: bushmeat harvesting practices and human reliance. Endangered Species Research 11(1), 1-12.

Wright, J.H. (2010) Use of film for community conservation education in primate habitat countries. American Journal of Primatology 72(5), 462-466.

For a full list of publications, please visit my profile on ResearchGate