What is wild? Narratives in conservation policy

While there are many initiatives and ongoing policy programs to protect or restore wildlife, there is no common agreement on what and how should be protected or restored. Yet, every conservation initiative relates (often... [ view full abstract ]

While there are many initiatives and ongoing policy programs to protect or restore wildlife, there is no common agreement on what and how should be protected or restored. Yet, every conservation initiative relates (often implicitly) its goals to the normative vision of what is a ‘natural’ or ‘wild’ state, it also usually specifies what actions should be taken to reach the given goals. So, does ‘wilderness’ imply or should imply protecting biophysical characteristics of the land or the autonomy of natural processes? And which conservation interventions should be undertaken by societies to efficiently protect wild nature?

Actors at a policy arena have many different answers for these questions stemming from their different ideas of wilderness. The role of ideas (referred to as beliefs, ideologies, paradigms) is, along with power, crucial in policy processes and outcomes. Persuasion and arguments articulating the ideas are the key tools used by policy participants in the policy processes, especially when the scientific evidence is inconclusive or incomplete which is often the case in nature conservation policy.

The poster provides a theoretical background on the role of ideas in shaping policy processes in the context of nature conservation and management. More importantly, it is intended to foster a discussion on how conservation scientists understand the notion of wild nature. The poster is planned as an interactive space to elicit the ideas on what wild nature means to conference participants. What are the determinants of wilderness? How public policy should address the need to protect wild nature – namely, which interventions are needed, and which are too intruding or far-reaching? The plurality of answers for these questions given by conference participants during the poster session might be a first step to reflect on the directions and means of conservation policy. It will also provide a valuable input into a preliminary phase of the authors’ research project on beliefs and narratives among people involved in nature conservation. Lastly, the poster content and final, co-created form will illustrate the significance of social science research input in designing wildlife management and explaining to date failures or successes.