Coexistence of people and wild species: A new approach to conservation derived from ecological competition theory

Abstract

An approach to stemming the Anthropocene decline in nature is derived from ecological competition theory by seeking conditions for coexistence between people and wild species. It shows how coexistence is attained through a reciprocal process of ‘nature exchange’ in which people’s needs are met from ecosystem services and nature’s needs from conservation services. Nature exchange takes place within the ‘bioscape’, a landscape, seascape or cityscape, in which the human-nature relationship is balanced. The bioscape has several distinguishing features: (a) it introduces competition theory to the exploration of social-ecological systems; (b) it scales in size from local to global; (c) it integrates with other forms of land-use such as protected areas, urban and industrial areas, farmland and wilderness; (d) it contributes to greening of the local economy; (e) it brings people together in managing conflicts over nature; (f) it provides a platform for harmonising intrinsic and utilitarian values of nature; and (g) it constitutes a new tool for halting the global decline in wild species by reducing competition between people and nature.