Triage of Conservation Needs: The Juxtaposition of Conflict Mitigation and Connectivity Considerations in Heterogeneous, Human-Dominated Landscapes

Abstract

Conservation of wide-ranging endangered species is increasingly focused on large heterogeneous landscapes. At such scales, particularly when conservation landscapes are human dominated, it is imperative that prioritization techniques be used to allocate limited resources wisely. Moreover, spatial aspects of conservation planning warrant key consideration within these landscapes, such that certain sites that are key to either mitigating threats to species or to maintaining ecological processes, are prioritized. However, there are often multiple conservation needs, and multiple associated constraints, for species conservation in such landscapes. While there are tools to prioritize sites based on single or few conservation requirements and constraints, there is less knowledge on how these conservation needs, or corresponding management interventions, relate to each other in a scenario where conservation focus on one issue potentially detracts from another. We take the specific example of two conservation needs that are central to landscape-scale conservation of the endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus, namely the maintenance of connectivity, and the mitigation of human-elephant conflict. We show that conservation decision making, in addition to considering which species and sites to focus on, should also prioritize conservation needs. We review documentation of conflict mitigation and examine if the maintenance of connectivity was simultaneously addressed, and if so, whether optimal conservation solutions differed when connectivity considerations were included. We conclude with a discussion on the triage of conservation needs, and future prospects and challenges in ensuring that landscape-scale conservation strategies account for multiple interacting conservation needs for endangered species in heterogeneous human-dominated landscapes.

Human-Elephant Conflict: A Review of Current Management Strategies and Future Directions

“…Biophysical processes and livelihood practices intersect with species population dynamics to generate the conditions leading to human-elephant conflict. Elephant herd sizes, densities, growth rates, and regular movements directly impact conflict locations, timing, and intensity (Goswami et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2016;Goswami and Vasudev, 2017). This intensity includes the perceived risks to human well-being, as well as the amount of damage a household or community sustains and the ability to sustain future conflict damage.…”

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Human–Elephant Conflict in Eastern Thailand: A Model-Based Assessment Using News Reports and Remotely Sensed Data

“…By using two-dimensional classification, we can identify two main key management-relevant actions related to each group of factors. First, management actions associated with resource suitability are linked to natural resource and land management (e.g., land-use policies, establishing elephants corridors) (e.g., [68,69]). Second, HEC occurrences are also governed by level of human disturbances which can be associated with different management actions directed more toward human co-adaptation (e.g., insurance schemes, behavioral adjustment in crop husbandry) (e.g., [70,71]).…”

Human-elephant conflict in western Thailand: Socio-economic drivers and potential mitigation strategies

“…Alleviation of human-wildlife conflicts is one of the great challenges for conservation of wildlife worldwide [ 1 , 2 ]. Several studies have demonstrated that people are more willing to tolerate and coexist with wild species when they receive benefits from generating income through tourism, a pleasure to see wildlife, feeling more secure/safe, and ecological services provided by wildlife [ 3 , 4 ].…”