The Center for Conservation Peacebuilding (CPeace, formerly the Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaboration) serves as a Third Party Neutral in seemingly-intractable conflicts over wildlife. For the last three years, CPeace has intervened in a social conflict over wolves in one of the most polarized states in the USA: Washington. With millions of stakeholders, the social conflict surrounding wolves in Washington state involves numerous and varied constituencies, including livestock producers, conservation organizations, hunters, government agencies, local, state, and national elected officials, scientists, wildlife sanctuaries, community groups, and others. One of the most pronounced schisms in the state is between urban, liberal communities (primarily in Washington’s western region) and rural, conservative communities (primarily in the state’s east), resulting in a literal left-right divide across the Cascade Mountain Range. However, by engaging in CPeace’s Conservation Conflict Transformation (CCT) processes, these constituencies have used wolves as a bridge across that divide by co-developing (along with their government) shared solutions based on mutual respect, earned trust, and a deeper understanding of the needs and values of ‘the other.’ They have coalesced around and adapted shared policies and legislation, and have expanded beyond wolves to collaboratively address other wildlife, environmental, and social issues in the state.
Similar to Europe, conservation efforts for large carnivores in the USA are characterized by politically-, culturally-, economically-, and symbolically-divisive conflicts. Hallmarks of these conflicts include urban-rural and liberal-conservative divides; vehement disagreement over science and knowledge; a cycle of legal and illegal reactions; feelings of persecution (of communities and wildlife), marginalization, oppression, imposition, power imbalances, anger, frustration, and fear; persistent dehumanization of ‘the other’; intra-group conflict that fuels inter-group conflict; and the role of media in the conflict, to name a few.
As many societies progress toward goals of rewilding and coexistence, mutual learning among neighbors may provide insights into how and where we can each improve our understanding, practice, dialogue, and decision-making. This presentation will explore the theories and analyses that shape CPeace’s understanding of conservation conflicts locally and globally, as well as provide insights and lessons learned from our intervention work on the conflict over wolves in Washington and results to date from this intervention.
CPeace is a nonprofit organization working globally to transform deep-rooted social conflict in order to create enduring solutions for people and wildlife. Since its inception, CPeace has engaged thousands of stakeholders in social conflicts around gorillas, tigers, elephants, prairie dogs, sharks, wolves, parrots, and many other species. Utilizing CCT theory, processes, and practices in a variety of geographic locations and settings, CPeace has learned invaluable lessons from each conflict. Whether attempting to reduce poaching in Africa or rewild Europe, the principles behind CCT (drawn from numerous disciplines, including neurology, psychology, anthropology, behavioral economics, and systems practice) are applicable and universal.
Topics: Social-ecological systems as a framework for conservation management , Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Large Carnivores in Europe , Topics: Natural Resource and Conservation Stakeholders: Managing Expectations and Engageme
