One of the most important questions for rewilding is how to succeed. With few rewilding experiences there is little information to guide how to overcome ecological and social limitations to the process. To fill this need, a natural proxy for rewilding would be current population increases and redistribution of wildlife, that serves as an example for ecological conditions and human perceptions about the process of wildlife repopulation. This is the case of the guanaco (Lama guanicoe), a South American camelid, that has recovered part of its populations in central and southern Chile. The guanaco recovery has raised concerns on farmers that use the same rangelands for livestock grazing. The aim of this work was to assess negative perceptions of ranchers about guanaco population increase as a proxy for repopulation. For this we used information combined from two projects in distant areas of Chile: Central Andes and Magallanes region. We used individual and group interviews with commercial and communal ranchers to identify expressions of disconformity with the local guanaco population increase or with agencies managing the local guanaco population. In addition, information on the historical context was collected from relevant governmental institutions.
The trend of natural increase of guanaco populations was acknowledged by all of the interviewees. Apparently, there are no memories in both places of such guanaco population levels. This trend is perceived as a threat to domestic livestock in both areas, regardless of the population. Emergent management options were drastically reducing guanaco populations, control of guanaco population, and a commercial guanaco harvest. Especially for the latter, we identified formal and informal connections between our study areas. Nonetheless, the harvest has not resolved the conflict with guanacos in Magallanes, and to date it has not being adopted in the Central Andes. Currently, socioecological research promoting community and government involvement in Central Andes seems to be a first step to guanaco management. In the same line, socioecological research being developed in Magallanes intend to understand social processes regarding guanaco management. In this context, the socioecological change represented by guanaco repopulation may need support to promote people’s adaptation to current population levels if repopulation or rewilding occurs in human dominated areas.
We stress the need for interdisciplinary socio-ecological research that attends societal adaptation to recovering guanaco and other wildlife populations in Chile and elsewhere. Without proper understanding of the social and ecological context current disciplinary solutions are blind to local processes and conservation opportunities such as rewilding.
Topics: Social-ecological systems as a framework for conservation management , Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: “Other” Species in Europe
