Rise and Fall: 12 Years Experiences from Co-Management of Large Carnivores in Germany

Large Carnivores challenge the political system in many countries. Divergent values and a high media interest in the issue regularly overcharge the capacity and the competences of responsible administrations. Adaptive... [ view full abstract ]

Large Carnivores challenge the political system in many countries. Divergent values and a high media interest in the issue regularly overcharge the capacity and the competences of responsible administrations. Adaptive Co-Management is often suggested by scholars as the academic answer to the existing dilemmas of the bureaucracy. Anyhow in many administrations other role models have a long tradition and are well represented and trained. New participatory approaches compete with the established self-concept of bureaucracy: to struggle for power and resources.

The authors facilitated and evaluated for twelve years an approach of co-management of lynx and wolf in Germany. The process was evaluated regularly based on a feedback system, open for participants and empirical studies, carried out by academics from different disciplines. The presentation summarizes personal insight in the facilitation process and empirical data from different studies that have been carried out in the last years on this case. The evaluation design includes interviews with stakeholders on the participatory process, group discussions with farmers and hunters, interviews with volunteers in the monitoring system (Citizen Science) and a survey among the broader public. Most of the studies are based on theories on risk perception and risk management, offering useful concepts for the analysis and the facilitation process. They document the options of common learning processes and the high acceptance of co-management approaches among most of the NGOs, even if their field of interest is diverse. Some state actors challenge the process because of their problems to act as a reliable partner.  

Based on this multiple perspectives the authors describe and explain the rise, the decline and the reestablishment of a co-management system for large carnivores. Several conclusions on success and failure of co-management approaches are drawn.