Promoting reconnection: guiding coexistence in conservation translocations

Species reintroductions and translocations are widely used management interventions to restore locally extinct or augment severely depleted populations of threatened species to promote biodiversity. Restoring a species that has been absent for several years involves biological, environmental and social dimensions. Overlooking the human dimension at any phase of a conservation translocation project could jeopardize its success. On the other hand, when the human dimensions are included, there is greater possibility of community involvement, peers’ acceptance and support from various interest groups, avoidance of conflict situations and successful coexistence.

The Human-Wildlife Interactions Working Group (HWIWG) was formed in 2018 by members of the IUCN Conservation Translocation Specialist Group (CTSG). HWIWG has facilitated online discussions and workshops with practitioners, researchers and academics from across the globe, on a range of aspects of human-wildlife interactions in conservation translocations. The group is preparing a set of Guidelines for HWI in CT that will function as a companion to the IUCN CTSG Guidelines (2013) to support planning, decision making and monitoring human dimensions of conservation translocation projects. In this presentation I will introduce an overview of these guidelines and discuss their value in promoting coexistence.