Community-based wildlife conservation

Too often in the past we have sought to involve communities in the conservation of wildlife and wildlands without a clear understanding, at the onset, of what we expect communities to contribute and why we believe they might be interested in doing so. Numerous assumptions guide our belief in the important role that communities can, should, or might play in conservation of biodiversity. Yet, rarely are we explicit about why we think communities will be interested in biodiversity conservation, and what management role they would most like to, and effectively, assume.

People and wildlife conservation
When wildlife and people co-exist and their needs do not conflict with one another, then there is no need for wildlife conservation. However, as people around the world continue to expand into wilderness areas, and as we successfully conserve and restore healthy wildlife populations, the needs of people and the needs of wildlife will increasingly clash. Consequently we must find new and better land-use management practices and policies, to minimize the conflicts that arise when the needs of wildlife and of people clash, and help people and wildlife share the same landscapes. Developing these new approaches is a primary objective of the Living Landscapes Program.

Other useful resources:

Books:

C. C. Gibson, M. A. McKean, and E. Ostrom. People and forests: communities, institutions and governance, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000. 231 pages.

IIED. Whose Eden? An overview of community approaches to wildlife management, London: International Institute for Environment and Development, 1994. 124 pages.

L. J. T. White and A. Edwards. Conservation research in the African rain forests:a technical handbook, New York: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2000. 353 pages.