Mainstreaming human and large carnivore coexistence through institutional collaboration

Authors: Tibor Hartel, Ben C Scheele, Abi Tamim Vanak, Laurențiu Rozylowicz, John D C Linnell, and Euan G Ritchie

Published in: Conservation Biology

Abstract

Achieving human‐large carnivore coexistence in Human Dominated Landscapes (HDL) is a key challenge for societies globally. This challenge cannot be adequately met with the current sectoral approaches of HDL governance and an academic sector largely dominated by disciplinary silos.

In this essay, we urge academia (universities and other research institutions and organisations) to take a more active role in embracing societal challenges around large carnivore conservation in HDL. Drawing on key lessons from populated regions of Europe, Asia and South America with significant densities of large carnivores, we illustrate how academia can help facilitate cross‐sectoral cooperation for mainstreaming human large carnivore coexistence.

We propose three ways for academia to engage with human‐large carnivore coexistence in HDL.

First, academia should better embrace the principles and methods of sustainability sciences and create institutional spaces for the implementation of transdisciplinary curricula and projects.

Second, researchers should reflect on the research approaches (i.e. disciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary) they apply, and how their outcomes could aid leveraging institutional transformations for mainstreaming human‐large carnivore coexistence.

Third, researchers should engage with various institutions and stakeholder groups for creating novel institutional structures which can respond to the multiple challenges of HDL management, as well as human‐large carnivore coexistence.

Success in mainstreaming human‐large carnivore coexistence in HDL will rest on our collective ability to think and act cooperatively. Such a conservation achievement, if realized, stands to have far-reaching benefits for people and biodiversity alike.

Hartel T, Scheele BC, Vanak AT, Rozylowicz L, Linnell JDC, Ritchie EG (2019) Mainstreaming human and large carnivore coexistence through institutional collaboration. Conservation Biology PDF DOI