Human-Wildlife Interactions: Turning Conflict into Coexistence

Description

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is one of the most complex and urgent issues facing wildlife management and conservation today. Originally focused on the ecology and economics of wildlife damage, the study and mitigation of HWC has gradually expanded its scope to incorporate the human dimensions of the whole spectrum of human-wildlife relationships, from conflict to coexistence. Having the conflict-to-coexistence continuum as its leitmotiv, this book explores a variety of theories and methods currently used to address human-wildlife interactions, illustrated by case studies from around the world. It presents some key concepts in the field, such as values, emotions, social identity and tolerance, and a variety of insights and solutions to turn conflict into coexistence, from individual level to national scales, including conservation marketing, incremental and radical innovation, strategic planning, and socio-ecological systems. This volume will be of interest to a wide range of readers, including academics, researchers, students, practitioners and policy-makers.

Beatrice Frank is the Social Science Specialist for Capital Regional District Regional Parks, Canada and an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria. In the last ten years, she has focused on better defining tolerance and coexistence and developed the conflict-to-coexistence concept proposed in this book, which she is furthering in her most recent research and publications on wildlife and protected areas. Jenny A. Glikman is Associate Director of Community Engagement at the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, and board member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Task Force on Human-Wildlife Conflict. As a social scientist, she focuses on understanding the relationships between humans and wildlife. Her work spans from studying and addressing human-wildlife interactions, to exploring various aspects of local consumers of wildlife products in several countries. Silvio Marchini is a research associate at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU),University of Oxford, and University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and conservation fellow at Chester Zoo. He is a board member of the IUCN Task Force on Human-Wildlife Conflict and of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Planning Specialist Group. His current work focuses on ways to upscale the analysis and management of human-wildlife conflicts.

'This is an open-minded book that seeks to examine the many facets of each case study ...' Amanda Hardy, The Biologist 'It will be of great interest to life and conservation scientists because it offers a humanistic point of view that is fundamental to conservationists, but which is seldomly effectively addressed. It should also interest academics of the human sciences who are addressing other kinds of conflicts, such as political or religious polarizations ... An urgent step in search for the balance necessary for human-wildlife coexistence can be found in this book.' Eduardo Bessa, The Quarterly Review of Biology