function as an effective catalyst for building bridges between different parts in the conflict.
Beyond these simple measures that can be implemented at the local scale there are a number of issues that require large scale landscape or ecosystem level planning. Examples include the need to restore connectivity in fragmented landscapes so that migratory elephants do not need to enter farmlands and the reduction of ongoing fragmentation of remaining forest patches that lead to the expansion of the human-wildlife interface. The complex example of green turtles in the Lakshadweep Islands illustrates the complexity of the pathways that can lead to conflict. There are many similar cases in a global context where the overabundance of wildlife following protection leads to some hard practical decisions about how to act and some more metaphorical questions about the role of humans in maintaining ecosystem dynamics. It often appears that we can cause as many problems because we don’t have enough interaction with the ecosystem as when we have too much. It raises the question concerning the ability of conservation and legal frameworks that were designed to save species from extinction to function once the species have begun to increase and expand again. Finally, our results have identified the importance of social and political conflicts that concern conflicts between different groups of people (e.g. local people vs the state) over how wildlife should be managed rather than directly between the people and wildlife themselves. Some of these conflicts can be addressed by developing effective channels of dialogue between local people and wildlife management authorities and creating suitable forums where issues can be discussed and solutions developed in a collaborative manner. One of the surprising things that we have experienced is that the process of doing research, especially interdisciplinary research, can actually
Unfortunately our research has also identified a number of areas where social conflicts are of a nature that does not permit effective solutions. These concern some of the cases where conflicts concern fundamental values or visions of how the landscape should be, and which wildlife should, and should not, share that landscape with people. In such cases there is often very little room or willingness to compromise, such that a solution to the conflict will be very hard to find. In summary, many conflicts can be prevented, although some will always persist such that our goal should be to reduce them to a level which is considered acceptable by all parts. However, no progress towards conflict resolution can only be made if we accept that humans and wildlife will have to share space with each other. The early view that wildlife should stay in protected areas and people should stay outside is naĂŻve and unworkable. The way to a sustainable future requires the adoption of a wholelandscape approach that considers both protected areas and the matrix of human-dominated landscapes within which they are embedded. This path also requires that we adopt a flexibility of mindset as well as a legislative and operational flexibility that can adapt to the wide range of situations that can occur. * John Linnell is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim, Norway. John.Linnell@nina.no *Raman Sukumar is Professor and Chairman at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, & Founder Trustee of the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation, Bangalore, India. *Kartik Shanker is Faculty at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India & Trustee, Dakshin Foundation.
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