The influence of social-ecological histories on human-wildlife conflicts

This project aims to assess how social-ecological legacy effects following land-use change shape present-day human-mammal interactions, using a case-study in the Western Carpathian Mountains
Europe is experiencing a major wildlife comeback, with species such as the wolf and several ungulate species strongly increasing in numbers or recolonizing areas where they were previously extirpated. This comeback can be viewed as a conservation success with benefits for human well-being. However, the wildlife comeback may also lead to negative impacts, such as problems between farmers and wildlife over local agricultural production.
Therefore, facilitating human-wildlife coexistence is a key sustainability goal for rural areas in Europe, yet most strategies to mitigate conflicts, such as financial compensation, have largely failed. One reason is the lack of an interdisciplinary social-ecological research perspective on human-wildlife interactions. This project acknowledges the important roles of ecological drivers (e.g. wildlife distributions and behaviour) and social drivers (e.g. human values and tolerance). Using a case-study on the wolf and wild boar in the Western Carpathian we analyze the drivers of human-wildlife interactions and how these are influenced by land-use change.
Facilitating human-wildlife coexistence is a global priority, and both a social and environmental concern. Our research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying drivers to coexistence, and ultimately to the design of mitigation approaches to human-wildlife conflicts and recommendations on how to build on positive human-wildlife interactions. In our research we take a place-based approach, collaborating with local farmers to enhance our ability to understand and engage with local experiences.
This project from 2022-2027. It is funded until 2024 by an NWO VENI grant.
Lead researchers
Other researchers from Utrecht University
Involved researchers from outside Utrecht University
- Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities
Charles University, Czech Republic