Conflict is omnipresent in the management of natural resource and wildlife conservation. Conflict may occur because people have different values and worldviews, they disagree about management measures, they have different information, they are using the same resource as other people or wildlife, or they feel threatened by predators. Conflict may take place between two or more groups, and it may stay latent for years and suddenly escalate. Personal relationships clearly play a role, and sometimes conflicts become detached from the original issue and take on a life of their own. Despite these many forms of conflict and their numerous descriptions, conflict remains analytically and theoretically understudied in the context of wildlife conservation and natural resources.
In this session, we want to explore whether conflict can be used as an analytical perspective to further our understanding of the dynamics of social-ecological systems and to improve their management. The session aims to unite contributions that address the following questions: why is conflict a common feature of social-ecological systems? What are the reasons for conflicts? How does conflict evolve over time? Can and should conflict be avoided? What are potentially successful methods of conflict resolution? How can conflict be assessed qualitatively and quantitatively? What is the relationship between conflict and other key concepts such as sustainability and resilience?
All contributors will be asked to comment on causes of conflict, dynamics of conflict over time, and possible conflict resolution mechanism for their cases. Thes session is meant to open a new perspective on social-ecological systems research and stipulate new ideas as well as interdisciplinary research opportunities. Conservation scientists, managers and practitioners often face conflicts themselves, so this session should be appealing to a wide range of conference participants.
We have five presentations confirmed for this session, of which one is the view of a practitioner and four are scientific studies. As last presentation, we suggest that the session chairs shortly summarize the causes and dynamics of conflict and give an analytical and theoretical outlook on the topic. The proposed presentations cover conflict (I) within and (II) between user groups and (III) between users and the general public. The methods include different forms of discourse analysis, a discrete choice experiment, and an application of the social-ecological systems framework. All presenters have committed to submit an abstract for this session by the end of February. Additionally, we would like to welcome contributions from the general submissions that address conflict in the aquatic or terrestrial realm.
1 - Thomas Klefoth, Angling Association of Lower Saxony: “A practitioner’s view on angling and Natura 2000”
2 - Hannah L. Harrison, Norwegian University of Life Sciences: “Ecological reasoning and social conflict over salmon hatcheries”
3 - Seraphina Siebert, Humboldt Universität Berlin: “Deconstructing media discourses on hydropower and salmon conservation”
4 - Jürgen Meyerhoff, Technische Universität Berlin: “Gravel pits: recreational conflicts perceived by anglers”
5 - Robert Arlinghaus, Humboldt Universität Berlin: “Understanding conflict over C&R using the SES Framework”
+ Session summary
Topics: Social-ecological systems as a framework for conservation management , Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: “Other” Species in Europe
