RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR

SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

People-wildlife interactions and the human dimensions of conservation.  Human-Wildlife Conflicts, People-Wildlife Interactions, or People-People Conflicts?

Professor Catherine M Hill, Oxford Brookes University

Wednesday 26 February at 5.30 pm

Once the undisputed domain of biologists and ecologists, conservation science is increasingly recognised as a multidisciplinary field that seeks to understand and manage the interface between “environmental and human interests”, incorporating perspectives from the social sciences where deemed appropriate.   Within this revised conservation science, understanding human-environment interactions and people-wildlife relationships is often presented as critical to developing effective conservation strategies.   This integrated perspective is strongly advocated by researchers in the context of ‘human-wildlife conflicts’, a term commonly used to indicate situations where wildlife behaviour or presence impacts negatively on human interests/activities, for example, elephants feeding on and trampling crops, wolves predating  livestock, or even raptors predating game birds.   

Using ‘human-wildlife conflict’ as a focal point I (i) examine the contribution of anthropology and/or social sciences to our understanding of the nature of these conflicts, and (ii) consider  the  implications of these changing perspectives for managing existing ‘human-wildlife conflicts’.

This event is free, but tickets must be booked.  To book tickets please go to http://katehill.eventbrite.co.uk.