Stakeholder dialogue as important components for conservation

Citizen scientists typically collect data or samples for research projects they have a particular interest in. By doing so, they often allow scientists to tackle questions that might not be achieved without their help. If the... [ view full abstract ]

Citizen scientists typically collect data or samples for research projects they have a particular interest in. By doing so, they often allow scientists to tackle questions that might not be achieved without their help. If the outcome of a research project has the potential to decrease an existing human-wildlife conflict and improve the economic situation of citizen scientists, their interest might increase even more and they might become stakeholders of the project. Farmers in rural Namibia are an example of stakeholders for sustainable land use and conservation of carnivore species. Economic revenue of Namibian farmers strongly depends on livestock farming, but cheetahs occasionally feed on livestock, thereby potentially decreasing the farmer’s income. This has generated conflict between farmers and cheetahs, and as a consequence, large numbers of cheetahs have been eliminated by farmers in the past. In the current project, we developed and maintained an intensive dialogue with farmers from the planning to the execution of a long-term project on habitat use, food preferences, health and reproduction of Namibian cheetahs. Our results enabled the farmers to substantially reduce their losses by adapting their livestock management to the spatial movements of cheetahs. Our success in reducing the farmer-cheetah conflict motivated the farmers to take the unusual initiative of writing a research proposal for a leopard project to a local funding agency. The granted funds allowed us to start a leopard project which strongly profited from the existing stakeholder dialogue and collaboration. In our view, this approach has significant potential to develop truly sustainable land use and conservation strategies and contribute to the minimisation of human-wildlife conflicts.