Integrating social science into conservation planning

A growing body of literature has highlighted the value of social science for conservation, yet the diverse approaches of the social sciences are still inconsistently incorporated in conservation initiatives. Building greater capacity for social science integration in conservation requires frameworks and case studies that provide concrete guidance and specific examples. To address this need, we have developed a framework aimed at expanding the role for social science in formal conservation planning processes. Our framework illustrates multiple ways in which social science research can contribute to four stages of such processes: 1) defining the problem and project team; 2) defining goals; 3) identifying impact pathways and designing interventions; and 4) developing and evaluating indicators of success (or failure). We then present a timely case study of wolf reintroduction in Colorado, U.S.A., to demonstrate the opportunities, challenges, and complexities of applying our framework in practice

Negotiating identity: experiences of 'visiting home' among Chinese Americans

'Roots tourism' is loosely defined as a type of tourism in which ethnic minorities visit their ancestral lands to discover ethnic roots and culture. Despite the recent popularity of this type of tourism, many gaps remain in the study of roots tourism, particularly about its influence on the tourists’ identity. This exploratory study investigates the ways in which second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans discuss their identity and feelings of belonging after visiting China. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews with Chinese Americans revealed that, contrary to the idea that roots tourism experiences provide individuals with strong feelings of belonging to one’s ancestral land, interviewees did not return from their visit with a feeling of connection to China. Rather, they reported a need to negotiate and redefine who they were and where they belonged. This study highlights how physical markers of Chinese identity added complexity to the negotiation of one’s identity. Because the interviewees “looked” Chinese, in a variety of situations they were automatically assumed to be Chinese while their American identity was ignored. Although Chinese Americans occasionally took advantage of such ascribed identity as Chinese, they often felt frustration, anger, and ambiguity about how they defined themselves and how others defined them. As a result of visiting China, although Chinese American tourists developed a certain sense of affinity to their ancestral land, they also affirmed that their true home was in the US. This study suggests a complexity and limitation to fostering a sense of belonging to their ancestral land through roots tourism

Summary of model selection with corrected Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc).

<p>Summary of model selection with corrected Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc).</p

Summary of best historical and contemporary models.

<p>Summary of best historical and contemporary models.</p

Location of villages in the eastern Okavango Delta Panhandle (Botswana).

<p>Circles represent the thirteen villages (i.e. Mohembo East, Kauxwi, Tobera, Xakao, Sekondomboro, Ngarange, Mogotho, Mokgacha, Seronga, Gunotsoga, Eretsha, Beetsha and Gudigwa) along the Okavango River. The small southern Africa inset map shows the location of the study area in northern Botswana in white. This image is not identical to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0178840#pone.0178840.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a> in Songhurst and Coulson (2014), and therefore it is for illustrative purposes only.</p

Temporal interaction between reported raid incidents and HEC drivers.

<p>(A) corresponds to the predicted number of reported raids incidents (RRI) per person (back) and per elephant (grey), (B) agricultural land allocated (ALA) per person (back) and elephant (grey); and (C) estimated raiding incidents per ha of agricultural land allocated (ALA). Dashed lines correspond to predictions from the historical model (1970s - 2015) and continuous lines to predictions from the contemporary model (2008–2015).</p

Contemporary trends for HEC drivers in the eastern Panhandle.

<p><b>(</b>A) corresponds to agricultural allocated land (ALA) (ha), and (B) number of reported of raid incidents (RRI) in the eastern Panhandle. Grey dots and black lines represent raw data and the best fitted model, respectively.</p

Human and elephant population size, agricultural land allocated (ALA) and number of reported raid incidents (RRI) from raw and predicted data.

<p>Human and elephant population size, agricultural land allocated (ALA) and number of reported raid incidents (RRI) from raw and predicted data.</p

Temporal differences in predicted raiding incidents as derived from generalized linear models (GLMs).

<p>(A) and (C) show predicted reported raid incidents (RRI) from multivariate GLMs based on historical (a; 1970s – 2015) and contemporary (c; 2008–2015) data. In both graphs, grey lines represent model 1 (RRI ~ people + elephants + ALA), dotted lines model 2 (RRI ~ people + elephants), and dashed lines model 3 (RRI ~ people + ALA). (B) and (D) show RRI for the next 10 years (2015–2025) from the best GLMs (model 1) selected for historical (b) and contemporary (d) scales. Black lines correspond to raw number of RRI in all cases.</p

Historical trends for HEC drivers in the eastern Panhandle.

<p><b>(</b>A) corresponds to human population, (B) elephant population, and (C) agricultural land allocated (ALA) (ha) in the Grey dots and black lines represent raw data and the best fitted model, respectively.</p