Conservation Conflicts Research Articles

Global mapping of social–ecological systems science in conservation conflict research

Global mapping of social–ecological systems science in conservation conflict research

The “right‐to‐farm” in Lac Saint‐Pierre (Québec, Canada) floodplains: Are problem‐framing processes able to foster conservation conflict resolution?

AbstractUsing qualitative data, we investigate the impact of the problem‐framing process on stakeholder mobilization for fish habitat restoration and its influence on transforming agricultural practices in floodplains. Problem‐framing involves defining and delineating a problem to suggest practical and measurable solutions for addressing it. We are examining how the conservation conflict changes over time in Lac Saint‐Pierre (LSP), part of the St. Lawrence River Basin in Québec, Canada. Such conflicts arise when there are differing perspectives, interests, or actions regarding conservation goals and objectives. In recent decades, the LSP floodplain has undergone significant changes, particularly the conversion of perennial crops to intensive annual crops, which are deemed incompatible with the ecological needs of yellow perch. This species has experienced a notable decline in LSP since the 1990s, prompting Québec authorities to impose a moratorium on yellow perch fishing in 2012 to safeguard stocks. This moratorium has catalyzed efforts at the policy level to restore its habitat. However, it has also engendered tensions between agricultural activities and conservation endeavors aimed at restoring yellow perch habitat, constituting the conservation conflict under investigation. To investigate this issue, we adopt a post‐normal science approach characterized by reflexivity, inclusivity, and transparency in addressing epistemological and ontological uncertainties among LSP stakeholders. Our findings offer insights into stakeholders' perspectives on the problem‐framing process and its outcomes, highlighting both supportive actions enhancing the effectiveness of certain strategies among LSP stakeholders and barriers hindering their mobilization. These results underscore the importance of incorporating diverse stakeholder perspectives during the problem‐framing process to enhance the robustness of the science–policy interface.

Assessment of conflicts under human-wildlife interactions: An application of the conservation conflict transformation model in communities adjacent to Nyerere National Park, Tanzania

Conflicts arising from human-wildlife interactions (HWIs) pose a significant challenge in communities neighboring Nyerere National Park. To achieve long-term conservation success, it is critical to understand and resolve complex social conflicts. Currently, most attention is focused on addressing dispute-related conflicts, whereas underlying, and identity-based conflicts are understudied, resulting in inadequate information in literature regarding underlying and identity-based conflicts that drive social conflicts. Through the use of the Conservation Conflict Transformation Model (CCT), this study aimed to identify existing conflicts across three levels of conflict and assess current intervention strategies employed within the study area. Based on data collected from 324 respondents through questionnaire surveys, the study revealed that the dispute level of conflicts was lower than the underlying and identity-based levels of conflicts, emphasizing the limited scope of addressing conflicts solely at the dispute level within the context of conflicts arising from HWIs. To alleviate conflicts at the dispute level, respondents employed both lethal and non-lethal control techniques, with a preference for non-lethal methods. Additionally, socio-demographic factors including age, gender, household size, respondent's attitude towards wildlife, and residence significantly influenced the implementation of intervention strategies (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the findings revealed that respondents faced several challenges, including a lengthy incident reporting process for conflicts arising from HWIs, lack of consolation payment for damages, exclusionary practices, and lack of transparency in seeking assistance from local, wildlife, and government authorities. Overall, the study recommends adopting and implementing a holistic approach aligned with the CCT model to effectively address conflicts under HWIs. Future research should focus on thorough case studies and actual applications of the CCT model to manage conflicts under HWIs.

Using applied social science disciplines to implement creative outdoor cat management solutions and avoid the trap of one-size-fits-all policies.

In the United States, policy conflicts have prevented successful population-level management of outdoor cats for decades. Wildlife conservation professionals have sought widespread use of humane dispatch (i.e., lethal culling applied humanely), whereas cat welfare professionals have promoted trap-neuter-return (TNR) (cats are trapped, neutered, and returned to the outdoors). These conflicts represent a policy panacea trap, which we argue drives many conservation conflicts. In these situations, the focus on defending a one-size-fits-all policy fails to account for the value differences that shape the different understandings of the problem and desired outcomes associated with each policy, as well as complexities in the social-ecological system. Over the past 5years, a group of wildlife conservation and cat welfare professionals codeveloped a set of products that have started to be used to help organizations break out of the policy panacea trap. We used a case study to illustrate how efforts grounded in applied social science disciplines, such as science communication, social-ecological systems, and conservation marketing, can help identify a more robust set of policy options tailored to local management and cultural contexts for successful implementation. Shifting the focus to embrace a shared understanding of the broader system helped us identify areas for collaboration, broaden the policy toolbox, and allow space for policy tools originally framed as opposing panaceas. This work helped prepare all parties to have difficult but productive discussions and address shared policy needs. We suggest that many value-based conservation conflicts would benefit from similar efforts that use applied social science to transform how conflict is addressed, moving beyond policy panaceas that end in stalemate to develop shared understandings of context-specific policies, and to identify opportunities for creative cooperation that yield real conservation progress.

Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus diet and hunting habitat selection in the breeding season: implications for lowland breeding waders

ABSTRACT Capsule A temporal mismatch between peak Marsh Harrier hunting activity and wader chick availability means that in most years waders contribute a negligible component of Marsh Harrier breeding season diet when nesting adjacent to lowland grassland, despite a spatial overlap in their habitat use. Aims To examine the potential for conservation conflict with breeding waders by assessing spatio-temporal patterns in Marsh Harrier hunting activity and examining historical and recent data on Marsh Harrier breeding season diet. Methods We monitored Marsh Harrier hunting behaviour in relation to time-in-season and habitat characteristics, and examined nest hatching records of Marsh Harrier and wader nests (Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Common Redshank Tringa totanus, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa) for evidence of temporal overlap between hunting peaks and predicted wader chick availability. We also recorded prey provisioning to Marsh Harrier broods using nest cameras (2013–2015) and combined this with Marsh Harrier diet studies across Europe from 1942 to 2016. Results Wader adults and chicks contributed only a small proportion (average 1.5%) to the diet of Marsh Harriers nesting adjacent to breeding wader habitats between 1942 and 2016. This was likely due to a temporal mismatch in the peak of harrier hunting and the predicted availability of wader chicks in most years, despite a spatial overlap in habitat use between wader chick-rearing and Marsh Harrier hunting. Conclusion Conservation conflict between breeding Marsh Harriers and waders on lowland grassland is likely to be minimal in most years, with little evidence of waders as harrier prey items. However, harrier hunting activity increases through the breeding season, driven by the timing of their nesting and chick-rearing, and hunting activity was highest over field centres, where waders breed, so later-nesting wader pairs are still at risk. Wader conservation strategies that encourage survival of early wader nests may therefore limit predation and conservation conflict with Marsh Harriers.

Applying machine learning to media analysis improves our understanding of forest conflicts

Conflicts over the management and governance of forests seem to be increasing. Previous media studies in this area have largely focused on analysing the portrayal of specific conflicts. This study aims to review how a broad range of forest conflicts are portrayed in the Swedish media, analysing their temporal, spatial, and relational dimensions. We applied topic modelling, a machine learning approach, to analyse 53,600 articles published in the Swedish daily press between 2012 and 2022. We identified 916 topics, of which 94 were of interest for this study. Our results showed ten areas of forest conflicts: hunting and fishing (35 % of total coverage), energy (24 %), recreation and tourism (11 %), nature conservation (8 %), forest damages (6 %), international issues (5 %), forestry (5 %), reindeer husbandry (4 %), media and politics (2 %), and mining (1 %). The overall coverage of forest conflicts increased significantly over the study period, potentially reflecting an actual increase in forest conflicts. Some of the conflicts were continuously reported upon over time, while the coverage of others exhibited seasonal or event-related patterns. Four conflicts received most of their coverage in specific regions, while others were covered across the whole of Sweden. A relational analysis of the conflicts revealed three clusters of forest conflicts focused respectively on industrial, cultural, and conservation conflicts. Our results emphasise the value of using topic modelling to understand the overall patterns and trends of the media coverage of current land use conflicts, while also highlighting potential areas of emerging conflicts that may be of special interest for planners and policy-makers to monitor and manage.

Evaluating diversionary feeding as a method to resolve conservation conflicts in a recovering ecosystem

Abstract The recovery of mammalian predators of conservation concern in Europe is a success story, but their impact on some prey species of conservation concern may cause conservation dilemmas. This calls for effective intervention strategies that mitigate predator impacts without compromising their recovery. We evaluated diversionary feeding as a management intervention tool to reduce depredation on nests of rapidly declining Western capercaillies in Scotland. We studied the influence of diversionary feeding provision on the fates of artificial nests deployed using a replicated and representative randomised landscape‐scale experiment. This comprised 30 'paired' control (no diversionary feeding) and treatment (diversionary feeding applied) sites, 60 in total, each containing six artificial nests distributed across 600 km2. The experiment was replicated over 2 years, and in the second year, the control‐treatment pairs were reversed, yielding 60 treatment and 60 control sites and 720 artificial nests. Diversionary feeding substantially reduced depredation of artificial nests, translating into an 82.5% increase in predicted nest survival over 28 days of incubation. The increase in survival was mostly accounted for by a reduction in the probability that a pine marten, the main nest predator, consumed or cached eggs. Diversionary food also significantly reduced nest predation by badgers, although the magnitude of this effect varied by year. Synthesis and applications. Diversionary feeding is an easily employable method shown in this study to reduce predator impact (functional) without lethal (numerical) intervention. Managers should proceed with its application for conserving capercaillie in Scotland without delay.

The transformative potential of local stakeholder engagement in the reintroduction of a contested species

Wildlife translocations for conservation purposes are carried out in complex socio-political environments where diverse stakeholders are key to shaping outcomes. Nevertheless, social feasibility and participatory processes are often not fully integrated into the delivery of legitimate and effective conservation actions. We investigated how stakeholder engagement can be delivered in practice and how this delivery is linked to the transformative potential of conservation translocations. We studied the proposed reintroduction of hen harriers Circus cyaneus to southern England in the context of chronic conflicts surrounding the conservation of this species in the UK. We aimed to (a) identify the perspectives of key local stakeholders, focusing on project desirability and drivers, and (b) examine how social engagement processes during project development and implementation could shape reintroduction success. We adopted a qualitative approach comprising participant observation and sixteen semi-structured stakeholder interviews, which we analysed thematically using the Framework Method. Perspectives on the translocation project were overall positive, especially regarding the potential return of hen harriers. However, there were also tensions between the perceived suitability of the local context for reintroduction, and the unsuitability of the national context, due to chronic disagreement among conservationists over hen harrier management. Engagement activities, timing, team composition and the project's open, on-the-ground approach fostered stakeholder engagement and initiated collaborative processes, holding socio-ecological transformative potential for hen harrier management and possibly broader biodiversity conservation. Even within challenging national contexts, therefore, honest stakeholder engagement could enable the alignment of interests, challenging entrenched conservation conflicts at different scales through a bottom-up dynamic.

Empirical Analysis of a Super-SBM-Based Framework for Wetland Carbon Stock Safety Assessment

With climate change and urbanization expansion, wetlands, which are some of the largest carbon stocks in the world, are facing threats such as shrinking areas and declining carbon sequestration capacities. Wetland carbon stocks are at risk of being transformed into carbon sources, especially those of wetlands with strong land use–natural resource conservation conflict. Moreover, there is a lack of well-established indicators for evaluating the health of wetland carbon stocks. To address this issue, we proposed a novel framework for the safety assessment of wetland carbon stocks using the Super Slack-Based Measure (Super-SBM), and we then conducted an empirical study on the Quanzhou Bay Estuary Wetland (QBEW). This framework integrates the unexpected output indicator (i.e., carbon emissions), the expected output indicators, including the GDP per capita and carbon stock estimates calculated via machine learning (ML)-based remote sensing inversion, and the input indicators, such as environmental governance investigations, climate conditions, socio-economic activities, and resource utilization. The results show that the annual average safety assessment for carbon pools in the QBEW was a meager 0.29 in 2015, signaling a very poor state, likely due to inadequate inputs or excessive unexpected outputs. However, there has been a substantial improvement since then, as evidenced by the fact that all the safety assessments have exceeded the threshold of 1 from 2018 onwards, reflecting a transition to a “weakly effective” status within a safe and acceptable range. Moreover, our investigation employing the Super-SBM model to calculate the “slack variables” yielded valuable insights into optimization strategies. This research advances the field by establishing a safety measurement framework for wetland carbon pools that leverages efficiency assessment methods, thereby offering a quantitative safeguard mechanism that supports the achievement of the “3060” dual-carbon target.

Identification of Potential Habitats and Adjustment of Protected Area Boundaries for Large Wild Herbivores in the Yellow-River-Source National Park, China

The wild large herbivores inhabiting the Yellow-River-Source National Park (YRSNP) are confronted with a significant threat from climate change and human activities. In response to these detrimental influences, measures have been proposed by the government, such as the Ecological Conservation and Restoration Project in the Sanjiangyuan Region (ECRPSR) and the establishment of the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP). To advance species diversity, it is crucial to investigate the spatial distribution of large herbivores, identify factors influencing their distribution, and address conflicts arising from divergent plans within the YRSNP. In this study, unmanned aerial vehicles were employed for surveying the distribution of the Tibetan wild ass (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata). The findings indicate that the optimal habitat area for Tibetan wild ass is 437.16 km2, while for Tibetan gazelle, it is 776.46 km2. Precipitation and the human footprint index emerge as the primary factors influencing the habitat distribution of large herbivores within the YRSNP. Under the influence of the ECRPSR, there was a noteworthy expansion of the habitat area for Tibetan wild ass by 791.25 km2, and for Tibetan gazelle, it expanded by 1612.94 km2. From a wildlife conservation standpoint, this study proposes the establishment of a wildlife refuge in the YRSNP, effective coordination of conflicts between various functional zones and plans, preservation of suitable habitats for large herbivores, and the provision of a scientific foundation to reconcile development and conservation conflicts in the region, while concurrently fostering biodiversity conservation.

Conservation backfire: Local effects of international protected area policy

Protected areas (PA), promoted as the cornerstone strategy for halting biodiversity loss, often lead to conservation conflicts. The main standard of international PA policy (Target 3 of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, formerly the Aichi Target 11) promotes the expansion of these areas. Given the potential conflicts associated with PA, it is critical to reflect on the role of international conservation policy plays when applied to specific contexts. We discuss the risks of a PA policy whose implementation is biased towards quantitative surface targets through a case study in Southeastern Mexico. We reflect on the negative effects of following international conservation policy without adapting it to specific socioecological context, and how this can hinder the management of conservation conflicts. Finally, we discuss how an overemphasis on quantitative area targets hinders efforts to address the challenge of linking global conservation policy on PA to specific socioecological contexts, thereby compromising social and conservation outcomes.

Conserving Commons for Whom? Heritage Conservation in Nairobi and Other Places in Kenya

ABSTRACT Urban heritage is an indicator of people’s idiosyncrasies. Significant values and meanings are created, and their decline can be controlled through conservation. Unfortunately, conservation in Kenya has been endorsed somewhat by powerful politicians and administrators for partisan objectives. They have failed to enforce existing conservation law and tried to appropriate value heritage assets. This paper, therefore, assesses the challenges of heritage conservation, the extent of systematic heritage destruction and the causes of conflict in the heritage conservation of Kenya. Three cases have been examined: the Ojijo Road Flats in Nairobi, Endorois court case and the Kaya Forest sacred ritual sites. A research programme was designed which involved participants with relevant knowledge. It emerged that conflict of interest, limited consultation and poor heritage management had resulted in the loss of heritage authenticity, integrity, and values. Furthermore, lack of public involvement and limited resources derailed heritage conservation. A literature review revealed the extent to which national legal instruments lacked reference to community responsibility in heritage conservation. The study concludes that a relevant conservation policy needs to be established to enhance sustainable heritage conservation and management in Kenya.

Selection of a diversionary field and other habitats by large grazing birds in a landscape managed for agriculture and wetland biodiversity

Abstract Several populations of cranes, geese, and swans are thriving and increasing in modern agricultural landscapes. Abundant populations are causing conservation conflicts, as they may affect agricultural production and biodiversity negatively. Management strategies involving provisioning of attractive diversionary fields where birds are tolerated can be used to reduce negative impact to growing crops. To improve such strategies, knowledge of how the birds interact with the landscape and respond to current management interventions is key. We used GPS locations from tagged common cranes (Grus grus) and greylag geese (Anser anser) to assess how they use and select differentially managed habitats, such as diversionary fields to decrease impact on agriculture and wetlands protected for biodiversity conservation. Our findings show a high probability of presence of common cranes and greylag geese in the protected area and in the diversionary field, but also on arable fields, potentially causing negative impact on agricultural production and wetland biodiversity. We outline recommendations for how to improve the practice of diversionary fields and complementary management to reduce risk of negative impact of large grazing birds in landscapes tailored for both conservation and conventional agriculture.

Effects of acclimation temperature and feed restriction on the metabolic performance of green sturgeon.

Green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) are an anadromous threatened species of sturgeon found along the Pacific coast of North America. The southern distinct population segment only spawns in the Sacramento River and is exposed to water temperatures kept artificially cold for the conservation and management of winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Past research has demonstrated costs of cold-water rearing including reduced growth rates, condition and survivorship of juvenile green sturgeon. Our research investigates how the stressors of water temperature and food limitation influence the metabolic performance of green sturgeon. We reared green sturgeon at two acclimation temperatures (13 and 19°C) and two ration amounts (100% and 40% of optimal feed). We then measured the routine and maximum metabolic rates (RMR and MMR, respectively) of sturgeon acclimated to these rearing conditions across a range of acute temperature exposures (11 to 31°C). Among both temperature acclimation treatments (13 or 19°C), we found that feed restriction reduced RMR across a range of acute temperatures. The influence of feed restriction on RMR and MMR interacted with acclimation temperature. Fish reared at 13°C preserved their MMR and aerobic scope (AS) despite feed restriction, while fish fed reduced rations and acclimated to 19°C showed reduced MMR and AS capacity primarily at temperatures below 16°C. The sympatry of threatened green sturgeon with endangered salmonids produces a conservation conflict, such that cold-water releases for the conservation of at-risk salmonids may constrain the metabolic performance of juvenile green sturgeon. Understanding the impacts of environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, dissolved oxygen) on ecological interactions of green sturgeon will be necessary to determine the influence of salmonid-focused management.

Group of Community-Based Tourism Awareness (Pokdarwis) Strategies in Addressing Conflicts in Utilization and Conservation of the Environment

The use of natural resources is very prone to conflict because of the friction between economic motives (utility) and conservation motives (protection). This potential conflict also occurs in the use of Mount Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark where the main development is through the tourism sector. This research aims to find out the strategies of the people who are members of the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) in dealing with potential conflicts over use and environmental conservation in the Gunung Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark area. This research is a qualitative study with a descriptive approach. The locations of this research are in Gunungkidul Regency, namely the Nglanggeran Ancient Volcano Geosite, the Pindul Cave Geosite, and the Siung Beach Geosite. This area was chosen as a representation of 2 (two) other districts in the Gunung Sewu UNESCO Global Geopark area, namely Wonogiri District and Pacitan District. In this research, researchers used participatory observation where data was collected through observation and sensing where the observer or researcher was truly involved in the respondent's daily life. The results of this research show that there is physical and non-physical damage as a result of the use of geoparks in the tourism sector. Physical damage includes damage to karst rocks, soil erosion, damage to vegetation, decreased water absorption capacity, pollution of rivers and seas, and vandalism. While non-physical damage includes economic inequality and social conflict. As a response to this damage, Pokdarwis adopted strategies and policies, including holding environmental cleanup work, building tourist attractions with environmentally friendly materials, installing signs calling for environmental cleanliness, limiting the number of tourist operators, managing waste in an integrated manner, building alternative tourist attractions, and forbid investors from entering. Based on a literature review, these strategies are classified as grassroots innovations. This research also strengthens the theory that community participation or empowerment is one of the best strategies in dealing with conflicts over environmental use and conservation.

The politics of mourning in conservation conflicts: The (un)grievability of life and less-than-human geographies

Accounts of conservation conflicts often reveal that people living around protected areas feel like their lives are less valued than animals' lives —they are confined to ‘less-than-human geographies’. Recent literature on necropolitical ecology illustrates how such geographies were created and maintained by the state, which holds the power to decide over life and death in and around conservation areas. This paper integrates Judith Butler's politics of mourning into necropolitical ecology to interrogate which lives are considered grievable and which ones are not in conservation landscapes. It focuses on two vignettes of violent human-carnivore interactions in Queen Elizabeth National Park, western Uganda: the poisoning of allegedly 11 (but actually three) lions and the killing of a baby girl by a leopard. Both incidents happened in the park's condoned fishing villages, where historically marginalised Basongora pastoralists have been confined to live since the park's creation. We examine how the lost lives —of humans and animals— are publicly mourned and which lives are actually considered lost. We show how the politics of mourning in violent human-wildlife encounters goes beyond the (colonial-)state; rather, the unequal distribution of precarity is entrenched by a range of public authorities (e.g., (social) media, (I)NGOs, and politicians). This is, in part, because sovereignty in conservation territories has become transnationalised as post-colonial states allow international NGOs to carve out their own zones of influence. This coloniality of power influences human-carnivore relations and reifies racialised conservation spaces as less-than-human geographies.

An assessment of local community engagement in wildlife conservation: A case study of the Save Valley Conservancy, South Eastern Zimbabwe

AbstractIn southern Africa, human and wildlife interactions have significantly increased over the past decade, resulting in complex conservation conflicts. As humans and wildlife share space, stakeholder engagement becomes a critical component of wildlife management and transformative conservation. We analysed the conservation conflicts in the Save Valley Conservancy (SVC) in south‐eastern Zimbabwe. Data were collected between April and May 2020 through focus group discussions and interviews with purposively sampled informants. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were adopted in this study. The results revealed that the absence of an effective, inclusive, integrated multi‐cross‐sectional stakeholder engagement plan is a primary contributing factor to conservation conflicts in the SVC. In conclusion, our study found that community participation in land use decision‐making is limited within the SVC, and this is a general lack of consensus among the community members on viable land use options. This study proposes an integrated, cross‐sectional stakeholder working framework that not only informs conservation practitioners but also fully addresses the prevailing conservation conflict scenarios. These conflicts emanate from the exclusion of humans from protected areas and the encroachment of wildlife in human settlements.

Wild Ungulates Constitute the Basis of the Diet of the Iberian Wolf in a Recently Recolonized Area: Wild Boar and Roe Deer as Key Species for Its Conservation.

The Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) is recolonizing historical distribution areas after decades of absence. As in other human-dominated landscapes, finding a balance to protect this species by favoring recolonization and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts is a challenge. Since wolves are often generalist opportunistic predators, we studied their diet composition in central Spain to evaluate the consumption of domestic ungulates and provide reliable data that could help local authorities to deal with the current wolf-cattle ranchers conflict and coexistence. Diet composition (% prey occurrence, % prey ingested biomass) was analyzed through the identification of prey hairs present in 671 scats collected between 2017 and 2021. The wolves fed more on wild ungulates (82% occurrence) than domestic ones (18%). Wild boar (Sus scrofa, 44% occurrence) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus, 35%) were the most consumed prey. The wolves positively selected these two species. The wolves' diets varied between seasons, years, and forest regions, but a diet based on wild ungulates predominated over domestic ones. Food niche breadth showed variations depending on seasons and years. Preserving the availability and diversity of wild ungulates may favor reducing livestock attacks and would be an achievable goal that would help to conserve this species and reduce conservation conflicts.

Plastic ingestion in giant tortoises: An example of a novel anthropogenic impact for Galapagos wildlife

The human population of Galapagos has rapidly increased in the last decades accelerating the anthropogenic pressures on the archipelago's natural resources. The growing human footprint, including inadequate management of garbage, may lead to conservation conflicts. Here, we assessed the ingestion of debris by Western Santa Cruz giant tortoises (Chelonoidis porteri) within human-modified and protected areas. Additionally, we characterized environmental debris and quantified tortoise abundance together with tortoise fecal samples. We processed a total of 6629 fecal samples along a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance based on human debris presence. We found 590 pieces of debris in samples within human-modified areas (mean of 3.97 items/kg of feces) and only two pieces in the protected area (mean of 0.08 items/kg of feces). Plastic waste was the predominant category in feces within the anthropic area (86.3%; n = 511), followed by cloth, metal, paper, synthetic rubber, construction materials, and glass. On average, the proportion of plastic was higher in feces (84%) than it was in environmental debris (67%), denoting that plastics are more readily ingested than other types of debris. We also found that green, white, and light blue plastics were consumed more often than their prevalence in the environment, suggesting color discrimination. Tortoise abundance was higher in the protected area when compared to the human-modified area; however, recapture rates were higher in anthropized landscapes which increases tortoise exposure to plastics and other human associated threats. Our results indicate that plastics are frequently consumed by tortoises in the polluted anthropic areas of western Santa Cruz, but scarce in protected areas. More research is needed to understand the negative impacts associated with plastics for Galapagos terrestrial species. We encourage local stakeholders to implement current policies limiting expansion of urban areas, plastic use, and improving waste management systems to minimize threats to human and animal health.

Contestations, counteractions and equitable conservation – a case study of Ghana's Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve

This paper delves into the intricate dynamics of forest conservation conflict in rural Ghana, where state-led conservation efforts through forest reserves have met fierce counteractions from local communities within and around the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve. The study adopts a critical postcolonial institutional framework to examine the historical struggles that have shaped conservation policies in the country and subsequent contestations by forest-fringe communities (FFCs) seeking to use forest reserves for agricultural purposes. It dwells on archival materials, participant observation and interviews with farmers, local chiefs and forestry officials. The paper highlights the multifaceted strategies employed by these communities to assert their right to produce food within the forest reserve, leading to clashes with forestry authorities. By employing a critical postcolonial lens, the paper sheds light on the complex power relations and the historical legacies that underpin this conservation conflict, ultimately providing valuable insights for navigating sustainable and inclusive conservation approaches that respect the rights and local priorities of dispossessed, marginalised FFCs.