Predators in the landscape of humans - how landscape interpretations determine the place for large carnivores

A study conducted in the rural community of Trysil in southeastern Norway sheds light on how attitudes toward large carnivores are rooted in people’s understandings of the landscape. 14 focus group sessions were conducted,... [ view full abstract ]

A study conducted in the rural community of Trysil in southeastern Norway sheds light on how attitudes toward large carnivores are rooted in people’s understandings of the landscape. 14 focus group sessions were conducted, comprising from 4 to 8 participants, and representing various categories of local residents as well as second home owners. Taking Ingold’s concept of ‘taskscape’ as a point of departure, two ideal types of landscape perspective are identified. Attitudes toward large carnivores are related to how people use and perceive the landscape in relation to the tasks that are performed – or not performed – in it. How the place of humans in the landscape is understood, and how traces of human activity are perceived and valued, has a strong impact on how people see the place for large carnivores in the same landscape. A perspective we have labeled the ‘used landscape’ is centered on the idea that a prudent utilization of resources is an obligation, and that traces of human activities provide meaning to the landscape. This perspective includes a notion of harmony between humans, animals and plants. Large carnivores disturb this harmony, and therefore they have only a limited place in the used landscape, or no place at all. The second landscape perspective is the ‘authentic landscape’. Here the ideal is a landscape with minimal traces of human activity, separated from the materialistic human society. Large carnivores add value to this landscape, and show that it is authentic and not ruined by humans. By focusing on how people relate to the landscape we demonstrate that behind the conflicts over large carnivores there is a deep anxiety concerning changing land use.