Under pressure: How human‐wild‐captive elephant social‐ecological system in Laos is teetering due to global forces and sociocultural changes

Maurer, Gilles; Giménez, Olivier; Mulot, Baptiste; Lescureux, Nicolas

doi:10.1002/pan3.10247

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…For example, food security influences vulnerability towards negative impacts of elephant crop raiding (Salerno et al, 2020); and dependence on the positive contributions of working elephants is greater in a subsistence than in a profit-oriented setting (Maurer et al, 2021).…”

Section: Why We Need To Zoom Into Connec Ti On S B E T Ween Nature An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geo‐ecological, political‐economic and individual context also affect how dependent on certain positive contributions or how vulnerable to certain negative contributions someone is (Brauman et al., 2020; Clayton et al., 2016), which may change over time (Rasmussen et al., 2017). For example, food security influences vulnerability towards negative impacts of elephant crop raiding (Salerno et al., 2020); and dependence on the positive contributions of working elephants is greater in a subsistence than in a profit‐oriented setting (Maurer et al., 2021).…”

Section: Why We Need To Zoom Into Connections Between Nature and Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

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Rethinking individual relationships with entities of nature

et al. 2022

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Recognizing variation in human–nature relationships across different contexts, entities of nature and individual people is central to an equitable management of nature and its contributions to people, and to design effective strategies for encouraging and guiding more sustainable human behaviour. We complement the broader Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework by zooming in from relationships between people and nature to individual relationships with entities of nature (IREN), and introduce a new typology that categorizes those relationships based on individual attitude, behavioural preference and behaviour towards an entity. These three dimensions illustrate if an individual perceives the entity to provide mainly positive, negative or no contributions; prefers to have a mainly positive, negative or no impact on the entity; and performs mainly actions with positive, negative or no impacts on the entity. The IREN typology defines 17 overarching relationship types, including not only types where attitude, behavioural preference and behaviour are all negative (intolerance), all neutral (indifference) or all positive (stewardship), but also types where the valence of some dimensions diverges. Among those, we integrate and redefine established types like tolerance, and introduce new ones like ambivalent opposition, which is highly relevant for the management of overabundant or invasive species. Combining attitude, behavioural preference and behaviour to categorize different IREN types can help detect inequalities in the benefits and detriments individual people receive from different entities, and signal societal conflict potential or misalignment of behaviour with conservation goals. Combining those three dimensions also indicates the relative importance of goal‐oriented motives like the desire to optimize an entity's perceived contributions, moral motives like the desire to act righteously and implementation barriers preventing individuals from acting according to their preference. By adding an individual‐ and entity‐specific perspective, the IREN framework and typology can encourage more equitable approaches to managing the benefits and detriments people derive from nature, and assist the development of more effective strategies for aligning human behaviour with conservation and sustainability goals.

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Section: Why We Need To Zoom Into Connec Ti On S B E T Ween Nature An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why We Need To Zoom Into Connections Between Nature and Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking individual relationships with entities of nature

et al. 2022

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“…Ancient kings maintained thousands of elephants as work animals and warriors; they also traded and gifted them between countries [ 1 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. In contemporary societies, captive elephants are commonly kept in temples and are used in ceremonial and religious rituals; they are also used in the logging and tourism industries [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Thus, elephants have played an important role in Asian cultural heritage since ancient times.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current and Future Approaches to Mitigate Conflict between Humans and Asian Elephants: The Potential Use of Aversive Geofencing Devices

Mel

Seneweera²,

Mel³

et al. 2022

Animals

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Asian elephants are a principal cause of human-wildlife conflict. This results in the death/injury of elephants and humans and large-scale crop and property damage. Most current human-elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation tools lack the flexibility to accommodate the ecological needs of elephants and are ineffective at reducing HEC in the long-term. Here we review common HEC mitigation tools used in Asia and the potential of Aversive Geofencing Devices (AGDs) to manage problem elephants. AGDs can be configured to monitor animal movements in real-time and deliver auditory warnings followed by electric stimuli whenever animals attempt to move across user-specified virtual boundaries. Thus, AGDs are expected to condition elephants to avoid receiving shocks and keep them away from virtually fenced areas, while providing alternative routes that can be modified if required. Studies conducted using AGDs with other species provide an overview of their potential in conditioning wild animals. We recommend that the efficacy and welfare impact of AGDs be evaluated using captive elephants along with public perception of using AGDs on elephants as a means of addressing the inherent deficiencies of common HEC mitigation tools. If elephants could be successfully conditioned to avoid virtual fences, then AGDs could resolve many HEC incidents throughout Asia.

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