Human-Wildlife Conflict

Primary reference(s)

IUCN SSC, 2020. What is Human-Wildlife Conflict? International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Human-Wildlife Conflict Task Force. Accessed 15 October 2020.

Additional scientific description

Humans coexist in a complex, interdependent relationship with the companion, production, and wild animals necessary for food, livelihoods, and well-being, as well as the environments required by both (WHO, no date). Human-wildlife conflict occurs when animals pose a direct and recurring threat to the livelihood or safety of people, often leading to the persecution of that species. In many regions these conflicts have intensified as a result of human population growth and changes in land use (FAO and UNEP, 2020). Human-wildlife conflict affects most large carnivores, as well as many other species groups including, but not limited to, elephants, pigs, deer, primates, sharks, seals, birds of prey, crocodiles, rhinos, and otters (IUCN SSC, 2020).

Human-wildlife conflict is a serious global threat to sustainable development, food security, conservation, and health – a concern that is negatively affecting both people and wildlife and hindering the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (IISD, 2021) and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (FAO, 2020a). In general, the consequences of human-wildlife conflict include destruction of crops, reduced farm productivity, competition for grazing lands and water, livestock predation, injury and death to farmers, damage to infrastructure and increased risk of disease transmission from wildlife to livestock. Human-wildlife conflict often triggers negative sentiments towards conservation, especially when protected areas are being established or expanded (FAO and UNEP, 2020). With specific reference to forests, a high density of large ungulates, for example deer, can cause severe damage to the forest and can threaten regeneration by trampling or browsing small trees, rubbing against trees or stripping tree bark (FAO, 2016). Forest damage caused by human-wildlife conflict leads to reduced productivity and forest regeneration, and can affect restoration efforts and have serious economic consequences (FAO, 2020b).

In Africa, human-wildlife conflicts are not restricted to a particular geographical location and occur in all areas where wildlife and human populations co-exist and must make use of limited natural resources. Human-wildlife conflicts currently rank among the major threats to the survival of many endangered species as well as to the security and well-being of community livelihoods in Africa (FAO, 2020b). Human-wildlife conflict has also become a major challenge in many countries in the Asia- Pacific region, creating negative sentiments towards conservation, especially when new protected areas are established, or existing protected areas are expanded. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict about what should be done to remedy the situation (IUCN SSC, 2019) and may impact conservation efforts.

The interface between humans, domestic animals, and wild animals can also be a source of disease, impacting local and global public health and the social and economic well-being of communities and the world population. Diseases transmissible from animals to humans through direct contact or though food, water, and the environment, are commonly referred to as ‘zoonoses’ (WHO, no date).

Metrics and numeric limits

Not available.

Examples of drivers, outcomes and risk management

Human-wildlife conflict often severely impacts the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the people who support wider conservation goals, and affects many nations trying to align with, and benefit from, conservation and development programmes (IUCN SSC, 2020).

As many countries tackle this multi-faceted challenge, the issue of human-wildlife conflict is starting to be considered in national policy and strategies for wildlife, development, and poverty alleviation. However, there is a need to improve the sharing and transfer of knowledge, to adopt a more inclusive and interdisciplinary approach, and to greatly increase cross-sectoral collaboration among forestry, wildlife, agriculture, livestock, and other relevant sectors at the national level (FAO, no date). 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) actively supports the efforts of Member countries to better manage human-wildlife conflicts by facilitating cross-sectoral dialogues among stakeholders for sharing information; generating guidance on good practices; providing technical guidelines for the development of national policies and legal frameworks; and implementing field activities. For example, these activities include:

• In June 2018, at its 21st Session held in Dakar, Senegal, the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission acknowledged the efforts made by Member states in sustainable wildlife management, and requested FAO to: 
  • (i) provide a platform to exchange good practices and lessons learned from initiatives related to human-wildlife conflict and illegal hunting In response to the 21st Session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission’s request and recognition of the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration, the FAO organized a Multisectoral dialogue and learning event to address issues at the human-wildlife-livestock-ecosystem interface, in Accra, Ghana, in October 2019 (FAO, 2020c). 
• In response to previous human-wildlife conflict related requests by the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission, the FAO has produced a series of educational technical publications, ranging from a general overview of human-wildlife conflict in Africa to more specific reports on elephant, lion, baboon and crocodile conflicts.
• The FAO, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), Bio-Hub, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and Campfire Association, developed a human-wildlife conflict toolkit in 2012. The toolkit has a range of resources designed for use by rural farmers and local communities and addresses all dimensions of human-wildlife conflict. It has been field-tested in FAO Technical Cooperation Programme projects in Zimbabwe and Mozambique and delivered through training workshops in the Southern, Central and Eastern Africa subregions. To raise awareness in Zimbabwe, a human-wildlife conflict management interpretation centre – funded by the FAO and partners – was established in the Mukuvisi woodlands and officially opened in 2014 (FAO, no date). 

Many international organisations are involved in sustainable wildlife management. The FAO Forestry Department has served as the secretariat for the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) since 2013 and actively engaged in a wide range of the CPW’s initiatives as a proactive member of the Partnership. The CPW is a voluntary partnership of 14 international organisations with substantive mandates and programmes to promote the sustainable use and conservation of wildlife resources. The CPW, established in March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, provides a platform for addressing wildlife management issues that require national and supra-national responses and also works to promote and increase cooperation and coordination on sustainable wildlife management issues among its members and partners (UNEP, 2018). The CPW mission is to increase cooperation and coordination among its members and other interested parties on sustainable wildlife management, to promote the sustainable use and conservation of terrestrial vertebrate wildlife in all biomes and geographic areas (FAO, 2016). The CPW currently concentrates on four thematic areas: wildlife, food security, and livelihoods; human-wildlife conflicts; unsustainable hunting and wildlife crime; and animal and human health and welfare (UNEP, 2018). 

The Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management provides key messages for sustainable wildlife management and human-wildlife conflict (FAO, 2016). These include: 

• Impacts of wildlife on humans and conflicts between groups of humans over wildlife conservation and management are two very different issues that require different approaches.
• The development of human-wildlife conflict response must be created together with the local communities affected by wildlife.
• Human-wildlife conflict can negatively affect human safety and food security, as well as having broader social, economic and political implications. 
• Human-wildlife conflict management needs to be flexible, and adapted to local circumstances and approached as a social, as well as a technical, issue.
• Reducing the impact of wildlife or offsetting it through benefits from conservation and sustainable use is likely to improve social outcomes and biodiversity conservation by increasing tolerance towards wildlife.