Minilivestock Environment Sustainability and the Local Knowledge Disappearance

A multitude of small animal creatures have been adopted as food by local human cultures, especially in the tropics. If many species are potentially edible not all are eaten and sometimes individual species are avoided and considered poisoning (the two different stages of the same caterpillar in the cover page of the book). In areas with major biodiversity different ethnic groups utilize different species. If loss of species and biodiversity can be the effect of improper management, when target invertebrates or smaller animals are considered as food or regarded as semidomesticates, in most cases they are protected from major decline. At the same time, hunting and collecting pressure on wild species can be decreased if semidomestication takes place successfully. The higher profile of nutrients, vitamins, proteins and fats and especially the poliunsaturated fatty acids confer to such a myriad of small creatures far more interest than what has been paid yet. The local knowledge is a crucial milestone of these sensibilities and traditional unwritten cultures. To maintain and promote locally and extend to the local markets this sensibility and interest towards minilivestoks must become a priority. Major urban populations as well have to better acknowledge the importance of local knowledge and biodiversity resources. Educational programs have also to be carefully developed.