Evaluating a conservation investment designed to reduce human–wildlife conflict

Abstract

Outreach programs are interventions that have the potential to influence the unique context of human-wildlife conflict as well as the political, economic, and social systems within which human-wildlife conflict occurs. However, evaluation of these programs is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine a human-wildlife conflict outreach intervention's effect on environmentally responsible behavior using the case of human-black bear conflict in New York, The New York NeighBEARhood Watch Program, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. We found no short-term evidence of environmentally responsible behavior change after the program was implemented. We discuss inhibitors of desired program impact and the utility of our evaluation framework to measure program effect. Given the staying power of outreach interventions and their unknown effects on mitigating human-wildlife conflict, it is imperative that evaluation of programs be a required part of their implementation. Results presented herein can advance discussion about the role of outreach interventions by highlighting assumptions, realistic expectations, and outcome measures.

Effects of Message Framing and Past Experience on Intentions to Prevent Human–Coyote Conflicts

“…Although previous research has shown that simply giving people more information is sometimes not enough for behavioral change (e.g., Baruch-Mordo, Breck, Wilson, & Broderick, 2011;Gore, Knuth, Scherer, & Curtis, 2008), we addressed a recognized need for better design of wildlife-related risk communication campaigns (Gore & Knuth, 2009) by investigating the role of message framing strategies, personal experience, and emotional responses in influencing intentions to adopt human-coyote conflict prevention behaviors. Our study provides insights to communication scholars and wildlife professionals alike in terms of the relative persuasiveness of different messages, as well as the different message strategies to use when communicating with targeted audiences.…”

Detecting and understanding non-compliance with conservation rules

“…In many instances, interventions may also lead to unpredictable outcomes (Gore et al, 2008). For example, increased enforcement may also increase resentment and undermine the perceived legitimacy of authorities, or the provision of alternatives or incentives may draw more resource users to a location.…”

“…Rule violators may be acting based on their perceptions of the legitimacy of the rules in place, which can be affected by several factors, including the degree to which resource users have been involved in rule formation (Pollnac et al, 2010). To date the literature evaluating the effectiveness of different interventions for curbing non-compliance in conservation has been very limited (Gore et al, 2008), perhaps because evaluation requires both a means of accurately assessing non-compliance and longitudinal data. This special issue examines a few different interventions aimed at increasing compliance, and these studies may provide a template for future work on this topic.…”

The Carrot or the Stick? Evaluation of Education and Enforcement as Management Tools for Human-Wildlife Conflicts

“…Research evaluating education has focused primarily on changing attitudes, behavioral intents, and knowledge towards wildlife and conflicts (e.g., [18], [21]). Unfortunately, there is not always a direct link between attitudes, intents, and knowledge and actual change in behavior [22].…”