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IUCN WCPA Integrating Human Wildlife Co-existence into PCA Standards Task Force

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IUCN COMMISSION GROUP

IUCN WCPA Integrating Human Wildlife Co-existence into PCA Standards Task Force

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Overview and description

Description:

The Task Force aims to integrate Human Wildlife Co-existence considerations into Standards for Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs), e.g.  IUCN Green List. Where gaps exist in existing standards the ...

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The Task Force aims to integrate Human Wildlife Co-existence considerations into Standards for Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs), e.g.  IUCN Green List. Where gaps exist in existing standards the task force will develop additional indicators, and criteria for human-wildlife coexistence projects.

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Group leadership

Mr Duan BIGGS

Co-Chair
Duan is the Olajos Goslow Chair of Environmental Science at the Northern Arizona University. He is a conservation scientist with 20 years of experience globally in community-based conservation,…
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Duan is the Olajos Goslow Chair of Environmental Science at the Northern Arizona University. He is a conservation scientist with 20 years of experience globally in community-based conservation, sustainable tourism development, wildlife trade, and human-wildlife conflict and co-existence. Apart from co-chairing this task force, Duan is also a member of the IUCN’s Sustainable Use and Livelihood’s Specialist Group and the World Commission for Protected Areas. Duan is the founder and Lead of Resilientconservation.org

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Dr Isla HODGSON

Co-Chair
Isla Hodgson is a conservation social and political scientist specialising in qualitative research and the management of conservation conflicts. Her research…
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Isla Hodgson is a conservation social and political scientist specialising in qualitative research and the management of conservation conflicts. Her research interests include the role of politics and power in conflict dynamics, environmental governance, stakeholder relations and the application of research and management techniques from armed conflicts and peace studies to a conservation context. Isla has worked on several cases of conservation conflicts involving different species and stakeholder groups, including birds of prey and game-shooting in the UK, seals and salmon fishermen in Scotland, cheetah and rural pastoralists in Southern Africa and geese and agriculture in Europe. Outside of her research Isla has also worked as a negotiator and facilitator and advised international organisations and government bodies including UK and Scottish government, NatureScot, Natural England and WWF. In 2019, Isla was lead consultant on The State of Knowledge and Practice on Human-Wildlife Conflicts, a global study commissioned by the Luc Hoffman Institute to investigate the possibility and design of an international standard for the governance and management of human-wildlife conflict. 

In 2022, she was awarded a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship to engage a variety of marine stakeholders in conflict research – including fishermen, renewable energies, tourism, and government bodies – to better understand and manage conflicts within Scotland’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. This project will also work towards the effective implementation of new High Priority Marine Areas (HPMAs), working towards the global ‘30x30’ target for MPA coverage. She is passionate about ocean conservation, particularly the conservation of sharks, and also works for the Save Our Seas Foundation as their principle science communicator. Her role involves making shark science accessible for a diversity of stakeholders, including the public, practitioners and policy-makers.

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The Task Force works to achieve several key goals to facilitate human-wildlife coexistence through integrating Human Wildlife Co-existence considerations into standards for Protected and Conserved Areas including: 

  1. Evaluate the existing IUCN Green List Criteria, and other relevant standards, and whether they are adequate for dealing with the challenges of achieving sustainable Human Wildlife Co-Existence. 
  2. Determine the key gaps in the existing Criteria, Indicators, Means of Verification, and Guidance notes in the IUCN Green List for the governance and management of Human Wildlife Co-Existence. 
  3. Develop additional Guidance notes, and if need be, Indicators and Means of Verification, for PCAs where Human Wildlife Co-Existence is a key identified concern, which can be piloted and tested, as part of the expansion and further development of the Green List. 
  4. Align additionally developed Guidance notes etc. with existing guidelines on human wildlife co-existence such as those being developed by the IUCN SSC Human Wildlife Conflict Specialist Group (https://www.hwctf.org/). 
  5. Incorporate feedback from local Expert Assessment Groups (EAGLs), after the piloting of the proposed additional elements of the Green List, including considerations for the time and resource requirements necessary for implementation.
  6. Identify additional expertise and experience needed on EAGLs to account for Human Wildlife Coexistence concerns.
  7. Identify the types of expertise and experience needed on site for the effective and sustainable implementation of the standard and explore sustainable financing options.
  8. Explore whether the core components of a standard for Human Wildlife Coexistence could potentially also feed into other standards for area-based conservation, e.g., standards for sustainability, carbon etc. and how to develop these further.

At a glance

Official name:
IUCN WCPA Integrating Human Wildlife Co-existence into PCA Standards Task Force
Associated Commissions:
World Commission on Protected Areas
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