Don’t forget to look down - collaborative approaches to predator conservation

Finding effective ways of conserving large carnivores is widely recognised as a priority in conservation. However, there is disagreement about the most effective way to do this, with some favouring top-down ‘command and control’ approaches and others favouring collaboration. Arguments for coercive top-down approaches have been presented elsewhere; here we present arguments for collaboration. In many parts of the developed world, flexibility of approach is built into the legislation, so that conservation objectives are balanced with other legitimate goals. In the developing world, limited resources, poverty and weak governance mean that collaborative approaches are likely to play a particularly important part in carnivore conservation. In general, coercive policies may lead to the deterioration of political legitimacy and potentially to non-compliance issues such as illegal killing, whereas collaborative approaches may lead to psychological ownership, enhanced trust, learning, and better social outcomes. Sustainable hunting/trapping plays a crucial part in the conservation and management of many large carnivores. There are many different models for how to conserve carnivores effectively across the world, research is now required to reduce uncertainty and examine the effectiveness of these approaches in different contexts

Dynamics of participation: Access, standing and influence in contested natural resource management

Although participative measures were introduced in 2001 to support dialogue on large carnivore presence and the aims and justifications of national predator policy, polarization has remained between pro-wolf groups promoting fauna diversity and the groups maintaining that rural Sweden is jeopardized by the reappearance of large carnivores. Through empirically investigating the participatory process itself, we address how the local environment of RPG members is situated in the deliberative setting of the groups. By taking account of the local community context, we emphasize that divergent perceptions of the local environment, together with the landscape as a context of relationships between those using its resources, form an informed basis for action. In sum, we examine how participatory voices can be supported and maintained given the existence of a contingent social situation in which particular interests, values, and norm systems mee

Exploring instrumental and symbolic constitutive conditions for environmental communication: The case of the Swedish Wildlife Management Delegations

Session abstract A4.

Dynamics of participation: Access, standing and influence in contested natural resource management

Although participative measures were introduced in 2001 to support dialogue on large carnivore presence and the aims and justifications of national predator policy, polarization has remained between pro-wolf groups promoting fauna diversity and the groups maintaining that rural Sweden is jeopardized by the reappearance of large carnivores. Through empirically investigating the participatory process itself, we address how the local environment of RPG members is situated in the deliberative setting of the groups. By taking account of the local community context, we emphasize that divergent perceptions of the local environment, together with the landscape as a context of relationships between those using its resources, form an informed basis for action. In sum, we examine how participatory voices can be supported and maintained given the existence of a contingent social situation in which particular interests, values, and norm systems meet<br /