Managing Wildlife Conservation Conflict

Definitions

• Conflict: expressed struggle between at least 2 interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving goals

  • what are some scarce resources in conflict over wildlife management?

    • intangible

    • tangible

  • Is human-wildlife conflict a reasonable idea?

    • Only with high level animals, like dolphins, baboons, etc

    • We tend to anthropomorphize wildlife when wildlife aren’t fighting with us, they’re just surviving

Case study: cat colony management

Value

• Diff ways of life, ideology, worldview

• Diff criteria for evaluating idea

Data

• Lack of info

• Misinformation

• Diff views of relevance

• Diff interpretations of data

Interest

• Perceived comp for substantive interests

• Actual ““

• Procedural

• Psychological

Structural

• does not equal authority

• does not equal control of resources

• time constraints

Relationship

• Miscommunication

• Strong emotions

• Stereotyping

• Repeated negative behaviors

Relationship Conflict Interventions

• Control expression of emotions: ground rules, caucuses, etc

• Promote constructive expression of emotions by legitimizing feelings and creating a clear process

• Clarify perceptions (build positive ones)

• Improve quantity and quality of communication

• Encourage problem-solving attitudes

Data Conflict Interventions

• Build consensus on what data are important

• Agree on a process to collect data

• Create rules for using outside opinions and breaking deadlocks

Value Conflict Interventions

• Avoid defining conflict based on values

  • find a superordinate goal that parties share

• Allow mutually agreed upon disagreement

• Create ‘spheres of influence’ where one party’s values dominate

Structural Conflict Interventions

• Define and occasionally change roles

• Replace destructive behavior patterns

• Reallocate power (ownership/control)

• Make decision-making process more fair/acceptable

• Shift from coercion to persuasion

• Modify physical and environmental relationships among parties

• Change time constraints

• Change from positional to interest-based bargaining

Stakeholders can be problematic in terms of managing conflict.

Interest-based Conflict Interventions

• Interest not positions

• Develop objective criteria for solution development

• Create solutions that address needs for all parties

• Create ways to ‘expand the pie’

• Develop trade-offs for interests of different strengths

Bargaining

• Position Based Bargaining

  • positions: statements by a party about how an issue can or should be handled

    • used when the resource being negotiated is limited, a party wants to maximize his share in a fixed sum pay off

    • Set target point, set bottom line, consider 1-2 for opponents, considers position between your 1-2, determine if any positions meet interests of opponents, move to positions that offer opponents more benefits as needed

    • Costs: damages relationships, kills creativity, promotes rigid positions, produces compromise when it isn’t needed

    • Benefits: reduce premature concessions, useful in fixed sum resources, does not require trust to work

• Interest-Based Bargaining

  • interests: specific needs, conditions or gains that a party must have met in an agreement for it to be considered satisfactory (procedural, relationship, substance)

    • used when interests of the negotiators are interdependent

    • ID interests that must be met, speculate on 1 for opponents, educate each other, frame problem in a manner that is win win

    • Costs: requires some trust, requires negotiations to disclose info and interests

    • Benefits: produces solutions that meet specific interests, builds relationships, promotes trust

Methods for Conflict Resolution

• Divided by who controls: process, issues, and outcome

  • Self-negotiation (parties control all three)

  • Fact-finding (third party share all three with parties)

  • Mediation (the facilitator only shares control over the process with parties)

  • Arbitration (third party controls process and outcome and shares control over issues)

  • Litigation (once it starts, third party controls all three)