Approaches to conflict management and brokering between groups

Abstract

14.1 What do we mean by conservation conflicts and their management? Conflicts in conservation arise between individuals or groups of stakeholders whose strongly held opinions clash over conservation objectives and when one party is perceived to assert its interests at the expense of another (Redpath et al., 2013). Such conflicts can take many forms. For example, conflicts may occur between those wanting to conserve large carnivores and those wanting to control themdue to their impacts on livestock, or between thosewanting to conserve habitats in protected areas and the communities being moved out of those areas. In light of the potential negative impacts on conservation, livelihoods and well-being, managing such conflicts is key to enabling effective conservation. Conflicts around conservation derive from the fact that the state of nature is socially constructed and has different meanings to different people. Conflicts arise from issues of identity and choices about how the land and sea are used, as well as the uneven distribution of the associated costs and benefits associated with the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems. These issues reflect the power relations acting across societies over time (Radkau, 2008). The state of nature, which ties into ideas of what is ‘natural’ and ‘acceptable’, is therefore inherently mainly a political matter. As such, conflict, defined as ‘the pursuit of incompatible goals by different groups’ (Ramsbotham et al., 2011, p. 30), is intrinsic to its conservation (Adams, 2015).