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First global summit on human–wildlife conflict and coexistence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2023

Alexandra Zimmermann Open the ORCID record for Alexandra Zimmermann [Opens in a new window]
Alexandra Zimmermann*
Affiliation:
IUCN Species Survival Commission Human–Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group, Oxford, UK
*
alexandra.zimmermann@ssc.iucn.org
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Type
Conservation News
Information
Oryx , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , July 2023 , pp. 417 - 418
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International

The International Conference on Human–Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence took place from 30 March to 1 April 2023 in Oxford, UK. It was organized by the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Human–Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group (hwctf.org) and co-hosted with the Global Wildlife Program, which is funded by the Global Environment Facility and led by the World Bank, and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of Oxford University, with the support of many other organizations and donors.

The conference brought together > 500 delegates from non-profit, government, academic and donor backgrounds from 70 countries, providing a forum for discussions and the exchange of knowledge. The programme included scientific presentations, panel debates, short courses, keynote speeches and interactive discussions. It was an interdisciplinary conference with participation from ecology, animal behaviour, psychology, policy, political ecology, conflict analysis, mediation and peacebuilding, international development, economics and anthropology.

The conference, postponed since 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, provided a timely response to the formal inclusion of human–wildlife conflict in global policy. The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at the UN Biodiversity Conference in December 2022 includes a target that calls for countries to ‘effectively manage human–wildlife interactions to minimize human–wildlife conflict for coexistence’.

To support coexistence with wildlife, and to help inform new national policies and support action, on 30 March 2023 the Human–Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group released the first edition of the IUCN SSC Guidelines on Human–Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence. The Guidelines, developed by an interdisciplinary team of 50 experts, provide the most comprehensive recommendations for good practice on the topic to date. The publication centres on good process and provides guiding foundations and principles applicable to any human–wildlife conflict situation in any region. The first edition, in English, is available at hwctf.org/guidelines, and will soon be available in additional languages.