Many predatory species cause negative impacts on human interests by threatening game, livestock or human safety. These impacts can create conflicts where stakeholders differ over wildlife management and when one party is perceived to exert their interests at the expense of the other. Finding effective methods to mitigate conservation conflicts requires an interdisciplinary perspective that investigates (i) the reality of the apparent impacts, (ii) the efficacy of any methods intended to remedy them and (iii) the perceptions, motivations and objectives of key stakeholders. In this thesis, I investigated a conservation conflict in the U.K. surrounding predators and game management. I did so with specific reference to the common buzzard Buteo buteo, a species that, due to predation of released pheasants Phasianus colchicus, is both subject to illegal persecution and on- going controversy concerning the licenced selective removal of ‘problem individuals’. I first review the literature to assess the ecological evidence that certain ‘problem individuals’ can be both disproportionately responsible in impacts upon human interests and more likely to reoffend. I show that while there is evidence for these animals across many different taxa, the benefits of their removal can sometimes be short-lived. I highlight possible indirect impacts of selective management and identify it as a potential compromise between different stakeholder groups. Next, I evaluate the performance of Bayesian stable isotope mixing models (BSIMMs) in quantifying the diets of wild animals. By comparing indirect and direct observations of buzzard foraging, I demonstrate that, with the correct selection of trophic discrimination factors, stable isotope analyses can provide a reliable picture of dietary composition that mirrors direct observations. I then apply these mixing models to evaluate the ecological basis of selective removal of ‘problem buzzards’. The results suggest that the consumption by buzzards of released pheasants is not limited to release pens where gamekeepers perceive buzzard predation to be a problem. However, I then show that stable isotope analysis of blood sampled from two of the four buzzards caught inside pens indicates frequent consumption of released pheasants, relative to the rest of the buzzard population. These results suggest that, while some pheasant consumption may go undetected, selecting only buzzards inside pens for removal is likely to target ‘problem birds’. I then investigate buzzard foraging and breeding ecology on land managed for pheasant shooting. I find that buzzards nest at higher density in areas with greater abundances of pheasants and rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus. However, records of provisioning from nest cameras showed that only rabbits were caught in proportion to their abundance and only rabbit provisioning rate was associated with buzzard productivity. I suggest that the positive relationship between buzzard and pheasant abundance, although seemingly unconnected to pheasant predation, might influence how gamekeepers perceive buzzard impact. Next, I conduct semi-structured interviews on the subject of predator control with 20 gamekeepers across the south of England, to explore the underlying beliefs, norms and information sources that motivate their behaviour. From these interviews, I identify a number of separate, but interconnected, motivations that influence predator control including professional norms, potential penalties, and interpretations of what is ‘natural’. The influences of these motivations are discussed in detail and a conceptual model, incorporating the theory of planned behaviour, is developed. Finally, the key contributions of this thesis are drawn together and discussed in their wider context. Taken together, the results of this thesis illustrate how predator management occurs simultaneously within social and ecological contexts that incorporate the individual attributes of both predators and people. The results of this thesis have direct implications for the management of predators, the representation of stakeholder perspectives and the design of conflict mitigation measures.

The study of conflicts in conservation (also known as human-wildlife conflicts) is a growing field of research in areas where people and wildlife interact, because of the negative impacts each can have on the other. Addressing conflicts is certainly challenging because of the complexities of considering diverse interests from numerous stakeholders and the specific ecological and socio-economic characteristics of a given study system. No matter how complex the system under study is, the aim is in all cases to find effective and sustainable mitigation strategies for local people, as well as for wildlife conservation and local authorities. In this thesis, I look at two of the preliminary steps required to address conservation conflicts and develop efficient long-lasting management solutions: the gathering of ecological data and the assessment of mitigation strategies in the field. To do this, I use two case studies: crop-foraging by African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in northern Botswana, and selective hunting of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) population on the Isle of Rum in Scotland. In Chapter 2, I built a baseline for the level of conflict in the Okavango Delta Panhandle (Botswana) using temporal trends of crop-foraging by elephants as an index of the level of conflict, and subsequently looked at how this relates to trends in agricultural land allocated in the study area, as well as with trends in human and elephant population size. In Chapter 3, I mapped the distribution of the local population of elephants and assessed its interaction with landscape features and sites where crop-foraging events had been recorded. In both chapters (2 & 3) I found that -in general- the number of elephants was not a determinant of the level of conflict in the study area, but that the spatiotemporal distribution of the species as well as the spatial and temporal scales considered were. In the second half of my thesis, I assessed the effects of two common conflict mitigation methods: the use of deterrents (Chapter 4) and lethal control (Chapter 5). I first evaluated the effectiveness of chilli-briquettes in deterring elephants and secondly, I used a modelling approach to predict the demographic effects of increasing levels of selective hunting in a male red deer population. I found that both mitigation methods showed unexpected results, which would not have been detected had I not tested for them. This thesis highlights the advantages of applying methods that are based on informed decisions in areas of conflict, as well as the value of sharing results in conservation management. My findings contribute towards a better understanding of the negative impacts of human-wildlife interactions, which often lead to conservation conflicts, as well as contributing protocols and methodologies that can be adapted and applied elsewhere.

Desde o IV Congresso Mundial de Parques Nacionais e Áreas Protegidas, celebrado na cidade de Caracas em 1992 e onze anos mais tarde na cidade de Durban, na África do Sul, a comunidade internacional de especialistas se debate em uma aberta e ampla discussão para encontrar saídas técnicas e éticas à questão de manejar áreas naturais em estreita relação com a presença humana, dentro e próxima dos seus limites. Nesse sentido, um novo paradigma estaria por se implantar. Esse trabalho deseja provar que as posições contrárias em debate, obrigatoriamente, terão que levar em consideração as realidades percebidas pelas comunidades humanas envolvidas e, muito especialmente no caso brasileiro, terão de ser identificados os pontos frágeis da administração nacional, que impedem fazer frente a qualquer uma das duas posições em conflito. Utilizando como base os estudos de percepção comunitária e as análises sociais, ambientais e de infra-estrutura em duas Unidades de Conservação de Proteção Integral (Reserva Biológica do Lago Piratuba, Amapá e Parque Estadual de Itaúnas, Espírito Santo), identificam-se as variáveis que apóiam ou rejeitam os argumentos de cada grupo, comparando-os com os acertos e conclusões em construção desde a Reunião de Almeria, Espanha, recém-celebrada em junho de 2007 e o Congresso Latinoamericano de Parques Nacionais e Outras Áreas Protegidas, realizado em Bariloche, Argentina, em outubro do mesmo ano . Os dados de campo foram coletados entre 19 comunidades de ambas as unidades, produtos de oficinas participativas e entrevistas sistematizadas em cada uma delas. Da mesma forma, estudos observacionais destacaram a situação em que essas comunidades vivem e foram, ainda percorridas as unidades em estudo, em toda sua extensão, com inclusão de sua zona de amortiguamento. Após confrontar os dados entre UCs e entre comunidades e realizar a análise estatística correspondente a partir de testes paramétricos e não paramétricos, o trabalho sugere uma série de propostas práticas e também filosóficas capazes de atender às necessidades de todas as partes envolvidas e de ajudar na compreensão de sua importância para áreas de proteção integral. Conclui-se que a falha do sistema brasileiro não deve atribuir-se às categorias, ou à presença de comunidades humanas na área de influência dos ecossistemas protegidos, mas a um problema de gestão, o qual, arrastando-se por décadas e mantendo o atual padrão administrativo, não conseguirá garantir nem a proteção da natureza, nem o desenvolvimento social dessas comunidades. Da mesma forma, conclui-se que o conflito em debate poderá diminuir quando os esforços forem concretizados em uma estrutura administrativa eficaz, em lugar de empenhar grandes esforços de confrontação epistemológica que imobilizará ambos os lados. Há verdadeiros indícios de que, em nível internacional, poderá encontrar-se um caminho para o desenvolvimento e a conservação no que se refere às UCs de proteção integral. No caso do Brasil, o mérito em pauta ainda terá que responder os desafios desse binômio. / Since the IV World Parks / IUCN Congress carried on in 1992, in Caracas, followed eleven years later in Durban, South Africa, the international community of specialists broadly opened the discussion to study the whole set of possibilities for managing natural protected areas, in intimate relation with the human settlements living inside and surrounding areas. A new paradigm was established. This thesis aims to prove that opposite positions in debate have imperative obligation to consider the realities perceived by the communities involved and, in the case of Brazil, very especially, it must be identify the national administration fragilities which difficult to deal with any of the two sides in conflict. Using the communities perception studies and the social, environmental and infrastructure analysis on two Strict Protected Areas as a platform, this work identified several variables that can support, or reject any of the arguments in both sides, allowing the author to compare with recent achievements under construction since the IUCN´s Almeria Meeting, in Almeria, Spain, celebrated in June, 2007 and the Latin American National Parks and Other Protected Area Congress, in Bariloche, Argentina, in October of the same year. The data collected on Lago de Piratuba Biological Reserve, in Amapa (on the northern coastal zone of the Amazon Region) and State Park of Itaunas, in Conceição da Barra (also in the northern coastal zone of the State of Espírito Santo), covered data from 19 different communities, product of workshops, structured and semi-structured interviews and observational studies, as well. Data translated the impacts of several human communities over the natural systems, and the overall situation of those communities inside the units and within the buffer zone. Once the data is compared between units and communities using several non-parametrical tests, the study suggests practical and philosophical mainframes for a management model capable of considering the needs of both sides in conflict, in order to understand the role of Integral Protected Areas without any interference. One of the conclusions is that the cause for a possible Brazilian failure to work on former paradigms of protection is not attributable to protected areas categories, or even to the presence of human communities in the influenced areas of protected ecosystems, but rather a management model which has been used for decades, unable to coop or to pledge neither the protection of nature, nor the social development of those communities. It also concluded that the conflict will considerably diminish, when efforts will come with an efficient administrative structure. It will reduce the enormous epistemological confrontation among specialists in both sides. There are significant evidences, at international level, to find out ways to consolidate autonomous social development and protected areas conservation. In the case of Brazil, recently recognized by its progress in setting areas for conservation, does not have the same prestige in responding to this binomial equation.

Desde o IV Congresso Mundial de Parques Nacionais e Áreas Protegidas, celebrado na cidade de Caracas em 1992 e onze anos mais tarde na cidade de Durban, na África do Sul, a comunidade internacional de especialistas se debate em uma aberta e ampla discussão para encontrar saídas técnicas e éticas à questão de manejar áreas naturais em estreita relação com a presença humana, dentro e próxima dos seus limites. Nesse sentido, um novo paradigma estaria por se implantar. Esse trabalho deseja provar que as posições contrárias em debate, obrigatoriamente, terão que levar em consideração as realidades percebidas pelas comunidades humanas envolvidas e, muito especialmente no caso brasileiro, terão de ser identificados os pontos frágeis da administração nacional, que impedem fazer frente a qualquer uma das duas posições em conflito. Utilizando como base os estudos de percepção comunitária e as análises sociais, ambientais e de infra-estrutura em duas Unidades de Conservação de Proteção Integral (Reserva Biológica do Lago Piratuba, Amapá e Parque Estadual de Itaúnas, Espírito Santo), identificam-se as variáveis que apóiam ou rejeitam os argumentos de cada grupo, comparando-os com os acertos e conclusões em construção desde a Reunião de Almeria, Espanha, recém-celebrada em junho de 2007 e o Congresso Latinoamericano de Parques Nacionais e Outras Áreas Protegidas, realizado em Bariloche, Argentina, em outubro do mesmo ano . Os dados de campo foram coletados entre 19 comunidades de ambas as unidades, produtos de oficinas participativas e entrevistas sistematizadas em cada uma delas. Da mesma forma, estudos observacionais destacaram a situação em que essas comunidades vivem e foram, ainda percorridas as unidades em estudo, em toda sua extensão, com inclusão de sua zona de amortiguamento. Após confrontar os dados entre UCs e entre comunidades e realizar a análise estatística correspondente a partir de testes paramétricos e não paramétricos, o trabalho sugere uma série de propostas práticas e também filosóficas capazes de atender às necessidades de todas as partes envolvidas e de ajudar na compreensão de sua importância para áreas de proteção integral. Conclui-se que a falha do sistema brasileiro não deve atribuir-se às categorias, ou à presença de comunidades humanas na área de influência dos ecossistemas protegidos, mas a um problema de gestão, o qual, arrastando-se por décadas e mantendo o atual padrão administrativo, não conseguirá garantir nem a proteção da natureza, nem o desenvolvimento social dessas comunidades. Da mesma forma, conclui-se que o conflito em debate poderá diminuir quando os esforços forem concretizados em uma estrutura administrativa eficaz, em lugar de empenhar grandes esforços de confrontação epistemológica que imobilizará ambos os lados. Há verdadeiros indícios de que, em nível internacional, poderá encontrar-se um caminho para o desenvolvimento e a conservação no que se refere às UCs de proteção integral. No caso do Brasil, o mérito em pauta ainda terá que responder os desafios desse binômio. / Since the IV World Parks / IUCN Congress carried on in 1992, in Caracas, followed eleven years later in Durban, South Africa, the international community of specialists broadly opened the discussion to study the whole set of possibilities for managing natural protected areas, in intimate relation with the human settlements living inside and surrounding areas. A new paradigm was established. This thesis aims to prove that opposite positions in debate have imperative obligation to consider the realities perceived by the communities involved and, in the case of Brazil, very especially, it must be identify the national administration fragilities which difficult to deal with any of the two sides in conflict. Using the communities perception studies and the social, environmental and infrastructure analysis on two Strict Protected Areas as a platform, this work identified several variables that can support, or reject any of the arguments in both sides, allowing the author to compare with recent achievements under construction since the IUCN´s Almeria Meeting, in Almeria, Spain, celebrated in June, 2007 and the Latin American National Parks and Other Protected Area Congress, in Bariloche, Argentina, in October of the same year. The data collected on Lago de Piratuba Biological Reserve, in Amapa (on the northern coastal zone of the Amazon Region) and State Park of Itaunas, in Conceição da Barra (also in the northern coastal zone of the State of Espírito Santo), covered data from 19 different communities, product of workshops, structured and semi-structured interviews and observational studies, as well. Data translated the impacts of several human communities over the natural systems, and the overall situation of those communities inside the units and within the buffer zone. Once the data is compared between units and communities using several non-parametrical tests, the study suggests practical and philosophical mainframes for a management model capable of considering the needs of both sides in conflict, in order to understand the role of Integral Protected Areas without any interference. One of the conclusions is that the cause for a possible Brazilian failure to work on former paradigms of protection is not attributable to protected areas categories, or even to the presence of human communities in the influenced areas of protected ecosystems, but rather a management model which has been used for decades, unable to coop or to pledge neither the protection of nature, nor the social development of those communities. It also concluded that the conflict will considerably diminish, when efforts will come with an efficient administrative structure. It will reduce the enormous epistemological confrontation among specialists in both sides. There are significant evidences, at international level, to find out ways to consolidate autonomous social development and protected areas conservation. In the case of Brazil, recently recognized by its progress in setting areas for conservation, does not have the same prestige in responding to this binomial equation.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:21:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Faleiro Frederico Dissertacao.pdf: 1687158 bytes, checksum: e1a8a44e89beea38d1a839934c890e56 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-28 / The human actions has triggered many threats to biodiversity like land-use and climate changes, overexploitation, pollution, and introduction of invasive species, which can affect organisms both at local and global scale. The science of spatial conservation prioritization emerged as a quantitative approach to support the spatial decisions in face of these threats, while minimizing the socioeconomic and political conflicts. Here we developed spatial solutions to the conservation of non-flying mammals from Brazilian Cerrado considering the socioeconomic costs and the opportunities of environmental governance (first objective). Further, we generated solutions to face the land-use and climate change taking into account the dispersal abilities of species and uncertainties in the species distribution modeling (SDM) process (second objective). We considered the current network of reserves of the Cerrado in both objectives. We built SDMs for 154 species combining model projections weighted by their statistical fit to produce consensus maps of species distribution grouped in three distinct types of models (envelope, statistical and machine-learning models), for both current future scenarios of climate (used only in the last aim). For the first goal, we used the current predicted distribution to run spatial prioritization analyses indicating the best sites for the conservation investment considering human population density, land cost, anthropogenic land use, level of environmental governance, and the distribution of species in trade-off analyses. For the second goal, we used both current and future predicted distribution to run optimization procedures and propose priority sites for conservation, while minimizing species climate-forced dispersal distance , the mean uncertainty associated to the SDM process, and taking into account the future changes in the landscape (by our land use model). SDMs indicated that species-rich sites converge to regions with high population density, high land cost, high anthropogenic land use, and with diverse levels of environmental governance. There was a significant change in spatial priorities when socioeconomic and political dimensions were included in analyses: top priority sites moved towards the north. This spatial change reduced by 68% the potential conservation conflicts with human population, by 72% the likely conflicts arising from land cost and by 68% anthropogenic land use. It also increased by 51% the beneficial effect of environmental governance. Including land-use changes and the modeling uncertainty in the conservation planning process changed significantly the spatial distribution of priority sites in the region. While the inclusion of land-use models altered the spatial location of priority sites at the regional scale, the effects of climate change tended to take place at the local scale. Note that, our solutions already include possible dispersal corridors linking current and future priority sites for mammal conservation, as well as a formal risk analysis based on planning uncertainties. Our results allowed dealing with both complex nature of conflicts among socioeconomic and political dimensions, and the dynamic problem imposed mainly by land-use and climate change. Thus, our analyses figure as a methodological prospect supporting the decision-make process and the consequent translation of conservation planning outcomes into conservations actions / As ações humanas têm desencadeado diversas ameaças a biodiversidade como as mudanças de uso do solo e do clima, sobre-exploração, poluição e introdução de espécies invasoras, que afetas os organismos da escala local até a global. A ciência da conservação espacial para conservação emergiu como uma abordagem quantitativa que tem o objetivo de auxiliar escolhas espaciais que lidem com essas ameaças enquanto minimizam conflitos socioeconômicos e políticos. Aqui nós desenvolvemos soluções espaciais para conservação de mamíferos não voadores do Cerrado considerando os custos socioeconômicos e as oportunidades vindas da governança ambiental (primeiro objetivo). Além disso, nós geramos soluções espaciais que lidem com as mudanças do uso do solo e climáticas levando em consideração as capacidades de dispersão das espécies e as incertezas associadas ao processo de modelagem de distribuição de espécies (MDE) (segundo objetivo). Em ambos objetivos nós consideramos a atual rede de reservas do Cerrado. Nós modelamos a distribuição de 154 espécies combinando as projeções dos modelos e pesado pelo ajuste estatístico para produzir os mapas consenso de distribuição das espécies, agrupados em três distintos tipos de modelos (modelos de envelope, estatísticos e de inteligência artificial), para a atualidade e projetados para o futuro (usado apenas no último objetivo). Para o primeiro objetivo, nós usamos as predições da atual distribuição das espécies para realizar as análises de priorização espacial, indicando os melhores locais para investimento considerando a densidade humana, custo da terra, uso do solo antropogênico, nível de governança ambiental e a distribuição das espécies na perspectiva da análise de demandas conflitantes. Para o segundo objetivo, nós usamos a distribuição atual e futura das espécies para realizar o procedimento de otimização e propor locais para conservação que minimizem os efeitos da dispersão induzida pelas mudanças climáticas, incertezas associadas ao processo MDE e considerando as futuras mudanças na paisagem (através do nosso modelo de uso do solo). A MDE indicou que locais ricos em espécies convergem para locais com alta densidade populacional, alto custo de terra, alta proporção de uso do solo voltado para atividades humanas e diversos níveis de governança ambiental. Houve significativas mudanças nas prioridades espaciais quando as dimensões socioeconômicas e políticas foram incluídas nas análises, fazendo que os locais prioritários mudassem para o norte. Essa mudança espacial reduziu em 68% de potenciais conflitos com população humana, em 72% de conflitos de custo da terra, em 68% de conflitos com o uso do solo antropogênico e 51% de aumento dos possíveis benefícios da governança ambiental. Quando incluímos as mudanças de uso de solo e a incerteza da modelagem no processo de planejamento, os locais prioritários mudaram significativamente na região. Enquanto a inclusão das mudanças no uso do solo alterou a localização espacial dos locais prioritários em escala regional, os efeitos da mudança climática tenderam a ocorrem em escala local. Note que nossas soluções já incluíram possíveis corredores de dispersão para ligação entre as atuais áreas prioritárias com aquelas importantes no futuro, tão bem quanto a análise de risco baseado nas incertezas do planejamento. Nossos resultados permitiram lidar tanto com a complexa natureza dos conflitos entre dimensões socioeconômicas e políticas quanto com problema dinâmico imposto principalmente pelas mudanças do uso do solo e climáticas. Assim, nossas análises auxiliam metodologicamente a dar suporte no processo de tomada de decisão e a consequente tradução dos resultados de planejamentos de conservação em ações de conservação