Building a resilient coexistence with wildlife in a more crowded world

Neil H Carter; John D C Linnell

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad030

Building a resilient coexistence with wildlife in a more crowded world

PNAS Nexus. 2023 Feb 1;2(3):pgad030. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad030. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Neil H Carter¹, John D C Linnell^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
² Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Lillehammer 2624, Norway.
³ Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Evenstad 2480, Norway.

Abstract

There is an urgent need to sustainably coexist with wildlife. However, realizing this goal is hampered by scant understanding of the processes that facilitate and maintain coexistence. Here, we synthesize human-wildlife interactions into eight archetypal outcomes, from eradication to sustained co-benefits, which collectively serve as a heuristic for forms of coexistence across a wide range of species and systems worldwide. We utilize resilience theory to elucidate how and why human-wildlife systems shift between these archetypes, yielding insights on research and policy priorities. We underscore the importance of governance structures that actively enhance the resilience of coexistence.