The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) convened over 500 international experts for a conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence 30 March to 2 April. Our Director, Dr. Andrew Stein, presented our results from the Lion Alert System (link here) while Dr. Eric LeFlore presented the results of his PhD work during his field work with CLAWS (link here). The conference provided an opportunity, after many years of covid related delays, for experts to share challenges and successes in the realm of community based conservation initiatives. We took advantage of the opportunity to meet with colleagues and collaborators, potential donors and future partners, all in the spirit of promoting coexistence.
Two big take-aways from the event were- the necessity to think holistically about the issues of conflict and not focusing solely on the symptoms. Secondly, it is essentially to support the needs of indigenous communities at the center for any conservation efforts to be successful. We believe that between our Lion Alert System and Communal Herding program, we are at the forefront of the community-led conservation efforts that can help people prosper and wildlife thrive.
