Coexistence, tolerance or acceptance? Understanding and defining positive human-wildlife interactions

As human-wildlife interactions increase over time, we need to better understand if successful wildlife conservation will depend on achieving tolerance, acceptance and/or coexistence levels. It is important to define these... [ view full abstract ]

As human-wildlife interactions increase over time, we need to better understand if successful wildlife conservation will depend on achieving tolerance, acceptance and/or coexistence levels. It is important to define these concepts so that conservationist work towards a common goal, which allows for more successful strategies to foster the three of these concepts or one among interest groups. The meaning of these concepts are frequently assumed and left to be intuitive, without giving a coherent definition across conservation literature. Indeed, despite the wide use of the word coexistence, acceptance and tolerance, we lack a specific set of variables that define these concepts and help us to understand how to foster them. For example, while enormous effort has been expended to create compensation schemes as a means of increasing tolerance of wolves in the western United States, it may be that tolerance has more to do with a perceived threat to a way of life. If so, we may need to develop a wholly different approach to measure, understand and promote tolerance.

The goal of this World Café is to advance our collective understanding of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance as concepts, and to identify approaches that foster them among interest groups. We will examine the various ways to define and measure these concepts and discuss whether all approaches are equally effective. We will explore efforts designed to foster these positive interactions in the urban setting, and hear from practitioners about successful strategies and opportunities for refinement. We aim to find ways to create more cohesion and specificity in our professional discourse on tolerance, coexistence and acceptance, and to help identify successful conservation for human-wildlife interaction.