Impact and Perception of the Human-Wildlife Conflict;
a Spatial Case Study of Management and Strategies in
Skåne County
Bachelor’s Thesis, 15 credits
Authors: Isabelle Bastholm & Victoria Fransson
Degree: Bachelor of Science, 180 credits Field of study: Environmental Science
Program: Miljövetarprogrammet- Människa, Miljö, Samhälle Spring 2019
Supervisor: Göran Ewald, Fredrik Björk Examiner: Jonas Alwall
Abstract
This study seeks to find the best strategies to be implemented to decrease the human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Other countries management practises and strategies to manage HWC was reviewed, in order to identify if Skåne county in Sweden could pursue improvements. To be able to tackle HWC, a greater understanding of people's ethical views were investigated and their perceptions of improvements were documented and researched. This study aims to provide quantitative data with web based surveys and spatial mapping of impacts from the HWC in Skåne county. It further aims to map the values that affects society caused by the HWC, and to answer the following questions; What are the optimal strategies in order to decrease HWC in Skåne? Where can cost effective improvements be implemented? This was both answered in the interviews conducted, and the gathered data. Optimal strategies that were detected where Skåne county can improve were; extensive implementations of ecoducts and passages for game, reducing the use of fencing, translocating, compensation actions, increase hunting opportunities and an installment of further game warning systems. Ethical views of different respondents’ towards the HWC were also analyzed. The online survey revealed that there were a difference in respondents views of HWC, based on if they were environmental science students, hunters or the general public. The gathered data and result, stated that the general public and the environmental students/workers were categorized in the ethical views of ecocentrism. The hunters ethical views could not be determined, due to the inconsistency of the answers of the questions. By showing differences and similarities in ethical views and how to manage HWC, strategies and incentives can more easily be adapted, to reach a better community base that can work together to reduce the HWC. Because of the different knowledge of the respondent groups and of their ethical views, there needs to be a broader incentive program that can maintain different interests of people and reduce conflicts, as well as preserve the biological state of ungulates in Skåne. In the online survey, all of the respondents agreed that the stakeholder, most suitable to handle and manage the problematics regarding HWC, is the government/county government. Other stakeholders that were believed suitable for managing HWC in Skåne, were organisations, for-profit companies and lastly, private self-acting individuals. Furthermore, the respondents beliefs on coexistence between humans and wildlife were also studied. The data showed that the
general public and the hunters believed that future were to be positive, and the environmental students/workers believe the HWC would still be a problem in the future.
Table of content
1. Introduction 4
2. Background 5
2.1 The wild boar in Skåne 5
2.2 Roe deer, red deer, fallow deer and moose in Skåne 6
2.3 HWC related to traffic accidents 7
2.4 Data analysis of HWC traffic accidents in Skåne 9
2.5 HWC related to loss of crop 12
3. Methodology 14
3.1 Selection and method 14
3.1.1 Case study 14 3.1.2 Survey 15 3.1.3 Interview 16 3.2 Data analysis 17 3.2.1 Survey 17 3.2.2 Interview 18
4. Results and discussion 18
4.1 Case study 18 4.2 Interview 26 4.3 Online survey 31 5. Conclusion 38 6. References 41
1. Introduction
The human wildlife conflict (HWC) exists in every corner of the world, where human
settlements occur and refers to conflicts involving humans and other species (Dickman, 2010). The root cause of HWC is the expansion of the human communities’, which affects space and accessibility of food for wildlife (WWF, 2019). Wildlife interference can therefore be
problematic and an economic cost for humans, like loss of food and agriculture livestock, disease transmission, opportunity costs and more (Dickman, 2010). Every year, 60 000 traffic accidents are reported in Sweden, which causes harm to animals, humans and contributes to high
social-economic costs (Länsstyrelsen, 2019). In this study, the HWC in Skåne is linked mainly to traffic related issues, fragmentation of species and net-value loss of crops. HWC are predicted to increase globally and affect both rural and urban societies (Kansky & Knight, 2014). As
Distefano (2004) stated, there is a need to improve the understanding of the ecological, social and cultural dimensions of conflict situations, to better integrate the general overview of HWC at present. According statistics, the accidents involving wild animals in the traffic are increasing (Nationella Viltolycksrådet, 2019). The HWC also cause losses in crops and an example of this matter is the increasing tribes of wild boars that causes billions SEK loss for both farmers and landowners (LRF, 2019). The county of Skåne, located in the most southern part of Sweden, contains the highest number of species and also has the largest amount of endangered species, and is therefore no exception of this occurrence (Länsstyrelsen, 2019).
This bachelor thesis examines aspects in Skåne that are at high-risk for HWC occurrence. This study focus on mammals > 10kg which includes; moose (Alces alces), wildboar (Sus
scrofa), fallow deer (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus). Humans are a part of this problem and it is therefore of vital importance to create strategies and pursue conservation goals in order to minimize the negative effects from HWC (Kansky & Knight, 2014). By using an online survey, we examined how people with different interests and knowledge perceive the issue of HWC. The first group consisted of environmental students and workers, specifically current or former students of Malmö University. The second group consisted of hunters that actively hunts mammals, either as interest or for injury inflicted
mammals. The third group consisted of the general public. By examine these different groups views, opinions and suggestions were gathered, to be compared and analyzed to see if there was a significant difference in their response and what ethical standpoint they answered from. To be able to tackle the HWC, a greater understanding of the perception people has toward it, is vital. The data collected can be used to provide a foundation of information that can be used locally and regionally to improve strategies from authorities. Is a sustainable coexistence between wildlife and a growing population of people possible? Furthermore, two interviews regarding wildlife, management and implemental strategies in the county of Skåne was conducted. This, to value the knowledge and opinion of the stakeholders that affects the implements made in the county of Skåne.
2. Background
2.1 The wild boar in Skåne
The wild boars have a history in Sweden spanning centuries, dated back to the Stone age. After heavy hunting and being mixed with domestic swine, the wild boar was considered extinct in the beginning of the 18th century (Viltdata, 2019). In recent years, the population of wild boar has
increased, this because of boars escaping from the enclosed fences back in the 1970
(Jägarförbundet, 2015). This led to an increase in the population in the southern parts of Sweden. Also, a part of their population increase in southern part of Sweden are the milder climate, favourable accessibility for food and additionally, high rate of reproduction (Svenska Dagbladet, 2015) Today, the population of wild boars in Sweden are growing and in 2018, the wild boar population is estimated to have around 200 000 individual animals (Viltdata, 2018). They lack good eyesight but possesses an exceptional anosmia which gives them the ability to sniff humans from a 500-meter distance. The wild boar is also a social mammal and they create groups
consisting of sows and piglets for most time of the year (Skansen, 2019). The Swedish settled wild boar is active 6-8 hours per day and is mostly operative during the dawn and dusk. Since the wild boar is shy and rarely seen during daytime, their presence can easier be located by their traces. Their activities emerge by their search after edible plants in the ground and rubbing against mud pots which affects the human-wildlife conflict since they are damaging crops and
trees (Jägarförbundet, 2015). The HWC also increases by the fact that the wild boar prefers living in the forest and close to cropland (Skansen, 2019). These extensive damages are bringing heavily loss of crops. In 2014, according to Statistiska centralbyrån, 42 700 tons of grain were destroyed by wild boars (Svenska Dagbladet, 2015). These problems do not only affect farmers, the wild boar also uproot gardens, cemeteries, fields and golf courses. This makes the wild boar a threat and creates an animosity to the many people affected ( Svenska Dagbladet, 2015).
However, the wild boar’s activities do not only bear negative costs since it also benefits biodiversity and faster nutritional turnover in the woodlands (Jägarförbundet, 2015). 2.2 Roe deer, red deer, fallow deer and moose in Skåne
The other animals > 10 kg in this bachelor thesis is red deer (Cervus elaphus), elk (Alces alces), fallow deer (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is the provincial animal in Skåne county, and are expected to have lived in Skåne for around 10 000 years (Naturskyddsföreningen, 2019). During the 16th century, Gustav Vasa restricted the hunt for royal privilege only. Even if this was the law, people where losing crops and begun poaching, which were still conducted until the law was removed two centuries later (Naturskyddsföreningen, 2019). The poaching, along with deforestation and human urbanisation lead to them almost being extinct in mid 19th century, with a population estimated around 100 individuals. Though, the lowest number was in 1907, where the tribe only had 50 red deers. Today, due to successful management and licences hunt, the current population before hunt is estimated to be around 1 300-1500 individuals (Naturskyddsföreningen, 2019). At Länsstyrelsen Skånes website, there is both information regarding hunting of red deer and mapping area of their positioning areas (Länsstyrelsen, 2018). The red deer to high economical losses for forest owners, due to the harvest on graze spruce, damage trees and create difficulties in planting deciduous forest. This issues are increasing, and many hunters argue for more balance between ways to reduce their population (Jakt och jägare, 2017).
Similar to red deer, the moose (Alces alces) also contributes to damage on forest, harming pine and spruce (Skogsstyrelsen, 2018). During the past years, the population of moose has decreased and studies shows that the reason is because of warmer weather that contributes more
parasites amongst mooses, fewer calves and increased mortality rate. One of the reasons of this phenomenon is also due to the lack of nutritional food, which results in less milk (HD, 2018). As mentioned, Gustav Vasa gave rights to hunt red deer as royal privilege (Naturskyddsföreningen, 2019). This also included moose and roe deer (Jägarförbundet, 2015).
The roe deer is the smallest and most common ungulates in this study. Their best developed senses are hearing, smell and taste and the swedish roe deer rarely get older than 10-12 years due to the wear of their teeth which create difficulties with food intake
(Jägarförbundet, 2015). One of the HWC issues involving roe deer is their negative impact on suburban areas, were they negatively affects people’s gardens (Aftonbladet, 2017). Hunting of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) are allowed during so-called general hunting season. That means that hunting has no limited numbers of individuals, and no need for specific permission. The hunting seasons are individual for these specific animals, and the hunt are required to be adapted to the surrounding nature (Naturvårdsverket, 2019).
2.3 HWC related to traffic accidents
According to the statistics made by Nationella viltolycksrådet, wildlife- vehicle accidents in Sweden, and this also includes in Skåne county (SVT Nyheter, 2018). 6750 game accidents occurred in Skåne county in the year of 2018. That is an increase of 824 from the previous year and an increase of 2338 accidents since 2014 (Viltolycka, 2018). In this study the species of focus are: moose (Alces alces), wildboar (Sus scrofa), fallow deer (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). The roe deer is overrepresented as the species with the highest numbers of impacts, and highest amount of accidents, which can be due to the high population number in Skåne. All concerned species used in this study are viable, according to the Swedish database for species (Artdatabanken, 2019). The central reason for the upturn of traffic accidents is due to the heavy traffic and the improved high-speed roads
(Viltolycka, 2018). Irregular increases in population in some of the species is also a cause for the upturn, although the number of accidents is still higher within the moose population for example, even though it is decreased by 30 % after the hunting season. Most of the game accidents occur in the fall and during the winter. This is due to a natural shift of movement patterns and
behaviour, when a lot of the ungulates are in heat (SLU, 2011). In the fall there is more human activity in the forest with berry picking and hunting which can cause stress to the animals and causes abnormal movement patterns. A visual unfamiliarity from drivers, with reading the nature/environment around the roads in dusk and dawn, can also contribute to the peak of accidents during the dark seasons (SLU, 2011). Mild winters increases the stock of animals and the access of food which also are factors that interact (Viltolycka, 2018). All these factors combined are the root ground for the upturn of accidents, where a lack of designing a landscape of coexistence occur. In Sweden, the government have a zero-vision concerning deadly accidents in traffic. Even if the deadly accidents of humans related to traffic accidents are few, there needs to be implemented strategies to minimize the game accidents, to reach the zero-vision target. Every year 800 people get injured in accidents related to game and traffic and an average number of 5-10 people die annually (Trafikverket, 2018). Trafikverket believes that the death number is higher than what is obtained, which can be due to unrecorded lethal accidents, where game have been involved. Research shows that there are supposedly a lot of hidden statistics, from people that have not reported the accidents. According to the data from Trafikverket, 20% of the accidents are estimated not to be reported. Although the deadly accidents of humans related to game accidents are not so high, there needs to be implemented strategies to minimize the game accidents, to reach the zero-vision target. Wildlife traffic accidents causes harm both to animals, people and generates high socioeconomic costs (Trafikverket, 2019). After a wildlife accident has occurred, the person is obligated to report to police, even if the animal is not visibly hurt. This is stated in § 26 in Jaktlagen and § 40 in Jaktförordningen which specifically mentioned the individual’s obligation regarding collision of vehicle and bear, wolf, wolverine, moose, red deer, wild boar, lynx, eagle and mouflon. Furthermore, the law also states that the area of the collision area must be marked out (Trafikverket, 2019). An upturn in the amount of deadly collisions on railways have also been observed, resulting in damage on the trains, loss of game, and delays in traffic (Trafikverket, 2011).
The Swedish environmental protection agency has Miljömål (Environmental goals) in order to achieve a sustainable environment. In the total 16 quality goals, “A rich diversity of plant and animal” contain preservation and sustainability of biological diversity as an objective
(Naturvårdsverket, 2019). To reach this goal, there needs to be changes in the management of HWC.
2.4 Data analysis of HWC traffic accidents in Skåne
In this bachelor thesis we also examined the HWC traffic related accidents occurrence and studied which animals involved with game accident during the years 2014-2018. This was conducted by ordering data from Nationella Viltolyckrådet (2019), and compiled to the current statistics. Furthermore, the gathered data have been studied and later, a comparastion of traffic accidents have been compared in the municipalities in Skåne.
Number of game accidents > 10kg, 2018-01-01- 2018-1-31 in Skåne county. Source Nationella viltolycksrådet 2019.
According to the gathered data, the most game accidents are collisions with roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus), which has increased by 27,8% between 2014 and 2018. There are believed to be
many reasons for the increasing numbers of roe deer accidents. One reason is because the roe deer locates themselves in, and close to urban areas where 60% of the accidents occur.
HWC traffic related accidents in Skåne between the years of 2014-2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus) 3142 3557 4147 3990 4349
Wildboar (Sus scrofa) 602 889 1005 1018 1287
Fallow deer (Dama dama) 427 477 603 530 715
Red deer (Cervus elaphus) 65 84 124 141 112
Moose (Alces alces) 141 135 186 163 152
Total game accidents: 4377 5142 6065 5842 6615
Their positioning also makes it problematic, since it is difficult to hunt in suburban areas. Also, the hunters have become more interested in hunting wild boars instead, because of the wild boars recent population growth (SVT Nyheter, 2017). The gathered data also shows how the numbers of wild boar have increased by 53,3% , as well as fallow deer (dama dama) related traffic accidents with an increase of 40,3 % comparing the year 2014 and 2018. As previously
mentioned, the wild boar tribes are growing (Svenska Dagbladet, 2015) which could be the cause of their involvement of increasing game accidents. The red deer is, according to the data, the animal in the study that has had the least traffic related accidents in the county of Skåne. However, the data concludes that during the five year span, the red deer accident has increased with 42%. Lastly, these statistics shows that the moose (alces alces) related traffic accidents have not increased significantly. Therefore are moose the only animal in the study that has not had a high visible change during this time period. In order to locate and compare the difference with HWC related accidents in Skåne, an examination of four selected cities where made. The data was gathered from ordered excel-files from Nationella Viltolycksrådet (2019). Two of the
municipalities where Malmö and Helsingborg, which are the most populated cities in Skåne. The other cities, Svedala and Höör, were chosen due to their rural location. In the data, both
similarities as well as differences can be noted. The city with the most game accidents during 2018 were Svedala. Svedala had the highest accident rate that involved wild boar (sus scrofa)
and fallow deer (dama dama) and had a total of 306 game accidents during this time period. Helsingborg had the second highest accident rate, with a total of 230 the same year. Also, according to the statistics, Helsingborg had the highest occurrence of roe deer (capreolus
capreolus) and moose accidents compared to the other cities. Traffic accidents related to fallow
deer where most commonly occuring in Helsingborg and Svedala, while they happened very rarely in Malmö and Höör. Furthermore, the data also shows that most game accidents involving moose occurred in Helsingborg, with a total of 7, while there were few in Höör and Svedala, and none in Malmö.
According to the data, the city of Malmö had the least game accidents during 2018 compared to the other three selected cities. Their total game accident related to the
animals,chosen in the study, were 83 in total compared to Svedala which had 306 game accidents.
2.5 HWC related to loss of crop
Farming activities are considered to be the largest anthropogenic factor that affects wild mammals the most, reducing their abundance (Oliveira de Lima, Lorini, Vieira, 2018). At the same time wild mammals have a major effect on the agricultural landscape, causing crop losses, which have a significant socioeconomic factor in Skåne (Jordbruksverket, 2015). In Sweden, 8% of the country's total area consists of agricultural land, where a large part of the country's best cropland area is in Skåne, making it an area of value (Jordbruksverket, 2015). Skåne county also have the largest scale of agricultural land area, consisting of 48 % of the county's total landareal (Jordbruksverket, 2010). The species that causes the most crop loss annually in Skåne county is the wild boar (Jordbruksverket, 2018). Wild mammals are important for the holistic perspective of the ecosystem and their recreational value to humans, and also provide a source of food. Due to the large area of agricultural land in Skåne, HWC is inevitable, making it an important area to further analyse. Sweden's national food strategy is clear with its aim to enhance the production of food, and to gain more value of every hectare of crops. According to the director of the economic sector at Jordbruksverket, Harald Svensson, the goal of the food strategy will not be reached if not the game damage of the crops reduces. Jordbruksverket have calculated the difference between the value of wild boar meat compared with the cost of the damaged agricultural area.
Damage costs included damage to farmland and traffic damage, to the value the insurance companies calculated them. There will be a minus between meat value and damage costs of SEK 5000 per wild boar. The conclusion from the calculation is that the population is too large
(Jordbruksverket, 2018). The relationship between a productive agriculture procedure and good hunting opportunities can be opposing. If one would only look at the interest of agriculture, productivity must increase. Reducing soil and crop damage should reasonably be the first action. But the solution can also lie in a better hunting strategy that results in less crop losses, due to a smaller population (Jordbruksverket, 2018). The total economic sequence from the crop losses in Sweden caused by wild game amounted to 120 million SEK, in 2014 (Jordbruksverket, 2015).
Considering that Skåne has an increasing population of wild animals, resulting in a greater HWC, this project seeks to find what strategies that best can be implemented to decrease the conflict. A case study of other countries management practises and strategies of the HWC was reviewed, in order to identify if Skåne county's management strategies was enough and where improvements could be implemented. To be able to tackle HWC a greater understanding of people's ethical views are imperative. This report further aims to map the economic variables that affect society caused by the HWC, and to answer the following questions:
A) What are the optimal strategies to decrease the HWC in Skåne? B) Where can cost effective mitigation be implemented?
3. Methodology
Location and distribution
The area of study is Skåne county in the southern part of Sweden with a total area of 4,224 sq mi. Skåne is the county in Sweden who has the highest number of species, but also the highest amount of threatened ones (Länsstyrelsen, 2019). To study where strategies can reduce HWC, a spatial description of the HWC in Skåne was provided with a high amount of data collected from a review of local documents. A distribution map was collected of the mortality rates of mammals > 10 kg within these areas. The distribution map presents the areas with the highest impact of wildlife accidents. This was due to show where further implementations on strategies and improvements can be inserted. The area of study was identified through field visits, field observations and a review of current available data. The data was collected through websites such as the municipality's website, Trafikverket, Sveriges veterinärmedicinska anstalt (SVA) and county Administrative Board's website, alongside with case studies.
3.1 Selection and method 3.1.1 Case study
A review of a case study of international HWC mitigation strategies was conducted in order to gather international strategic tools and management systems. The case study was a report consisted of many collected relevant case studies and literature, with problems and solutions worldwide, from the last 10 years. The study was retrieved and collected from Web of Science, and was selected based on relevance. The case study showed that the root, impact and strategies of HWC is similar worldwide, we therefore used it as a structural starting point.A review of the county ́s management were analysed and described, where the data was collected from the municipality and governmental websites such as Länsstyrelsen, Malmö stad and Trafikverket. After the review of the case study, several management tools used to minimize HWC was detected. Below both preventative and mitigative strategies that we used are presented in the table:
Preventative strategies
A. Artificial and natural barriers
(physical and biological) B. Guarding
C. Alternative high-cost livestock
husbandry practices
D. Relocation of human settlements
Mitigative strategies E. Financial compensation F. Ecoducts/ecopassages G. Wildlife translocation H. Insurance of crops I. Incentive programmes
J. Community based natural resource management schemes (CBNRMS)
3.1.2 Survey
The purpose of the survey was to study the knowledge and opinions of that hunters, the general public and environmental science students/workers have, towards the HWC. For the survey we used an online web based method from Google docs, called Google forms. In the survey, we examined the differences between these groups of people. The questions for the survey was semi structured questions based upon the perception of wildlife near human settlements and the comprehension the attendants had. The respondents were informed that the survey was anonymous, to increase trust and the response rate, in accordance with what is described as social desirability in Hjerm, Nilsson and Lindgren (2014, p. 183). We emailed the survey to Jägareförbundet, Miljövetarprogrammet, and uploaded it on Facebook in order to receive the general public view. Even if there is a limitation in respondents from group 3, resembling the general public, we still consider and mentions this group as general public in this thesis, because they are not hunters or environmental students.
The survey contained 19 questions Martinsson (2012, p. 31). To further receive an explanation of some of the questions, and sort out answers in the survey, the respondents was asked to develop their answer with a follow up question. This gave us the opportunity to further analyse. To
increase the quality and legitimacy of the survey, a connection was early established between the theoretical and the operational definition, as described in Hjerm, Lindgren och Nilsson (2014, p. 168).
The ethical views of nature was identified through the questions in the online survey. The ethical views follows the identification of Kronlid, (2011, p. 184). These questions were
answered by the three groups; group 1 of the general public, group 2 of environmental science students/workers, and group 3 of hunters. The questions in the survey was answered by 23 individuals in each group. By using the online survey we could find differences in the
respondents opinions and ethical views. Given questions were coded and analyzed and put into each section, consisting of the ethical views: antropocentric, biocentric, ecocentric, zoocentric and is presented below;
1. Anthropocentrism: humans stands higher in value than nature and thus have the right to use it to their advantage.
2. Biocentrism: All living animals, fish and insects but not plants/nature, have an intrinsic value and are thus equally valuable
3. Ecocentrism: Animals, plants and human beings have equal value and thus they must be treated equally.
4. Zoocentrism: Some animals have more value than others and therefore different animals should be treated and evaluated accordingly
3.1.3 Interview
This report contains two interviews. The first interview was conducted with informant Annelie Rossander, an environmental specialist on the swedish transport administration. In the
preparation phase, questions for the interviews followed a criteria list described in Bryman (2015), to ensure a clear, structured and ethical approach (2015, p. 420). Due to the relevance for the purpose of the study, the choice of respondents for the interviews was based on a targeted selection. The method of targeted selection follows the description in Bryman, (2015, p. 434). The first interview took place outdoors at an event that transport administration held, an
inauguration of an ecoduct in Skåne. To ensure privacy the interview took place a bit away from the crowd, also to establish good quality of the recorded data. The respondent was informed that the interview would be recorded and after approval the interview was conducted. The interview questions was set according to a semi-structured method as described in Bryman, (2015, p. 415. The list of questions and themes was prepared, but the informant was given the freedom to design the answer in her/his way. During the interview, observational notes were taken which were then directly entered a word processing program, in order to more thoroughly find patterns in the analysis of the data. The recorded material was then converted to an analyzable text, using a transcription of the audio files as described in Hjerm et. al (2014, p. 31). All quotes in the result were edited in the transcription from spoken language to written language. The collected data was then put into themes and was categorized into sections for further analyse.
The second interview respondent was Mattias Olsson, who has a Ph.D. in Biology, specialised on the importance of ecoducts/fauna passages and the negative effects that
infrastructure have on the ecosystem. The interview was conducted with e-mail correspondence, with computer-assisted personal interviewing technique (CAPI) that follows the description in Bryman, (2015,p. 210).
3.2 Data analysis 3.2.1 Survey
The data collected from the surveys (23 respondents in each group) was analysed and coded percentage wise. The outcome showed if there was any significant difference in opinions, depending on from which group the attendants belong to. Further we analysed the attendants various ethical views of nature, as described in Kronlid, (2011).
One theory that we also analyzed and observed through the survey was cognitive dissonance, to see if an individual’s behavior/job (hunters, environmental science students or general public) were affecting their view on HWC. Since an action or an ethical view could lead to discomfort, instead of changing the action the person changes its attitude and therefore motivates the actions made (Nilsson & Martinsson, p.41).
3.2.2 Interview
For the interview, a hermeneutic qualitative method was performed for the analysis, as described in Hjerm et. al (2014, p. 34). After the interview, the collected data was transcribed. The material then underwent a three-step process; coding, thematization and summation, as the method was described in Hjerm et. al (2014, p. 34). A pragmatic coding process was used in which we adapted the strategy to the situation, and where coding on the width was used (Hjerm et. al 2014), as one optimal way of analyse. The transcribed text was coloured to improve the simplicity to see patterns. A thematic analysis method was then conducted, in order to summarize the informant´s' perspective and answers, which follows a method described in Bryman, (2015, p. 532). The themes combined with the perspectives was then put together to form a totality. The informants' answers were interpreted with the help of various natural views and were then defined in accordance with the description available in Kronlid (2011).
4. Results and discussion
4.1 Case study
This study was conducted to identify issues regarding human-wildlife conflict, as well as residents perceptions related to it in their community. Further this study aims to analyse where actions are optimal. Based on the preventative and mitigative internationally used strategies, a case study of Skånes wildlife-management was analysed and are presented below in literal sections.
A: Artificial and natural barriers (physical and biological). Wildlife fencing are considered to be an artificial/physical strategy used to reduce the HWC. Even though wildlife-fences and fauna fences are brought up alongside roads, the desired effect in Skåne to reduce the game-accidents does not occur entirely. The total number of game accidents have not fallen down to an optimal level, even though efforts have been made, it has in many cases transferred the problems to other areas instead. The inability to reach desirable effect can be due to holes in the fences with poor
management of maintenance. Road fencing will be optimal as long as it is combined with other strategies, such as ecoducts, passages and tunnels, where animal safely can transfer to other areas (Trafikverket, 2018). Roads contain different barrier effects on wildlife, that is dependant on the appearance on the road. Larger mammals > 10 kg, are more sensitive than smaller ones to noise pollution, emissions and other disturbances from traffic. These negative externalities from traffic can cross reference and limit important game trails, whereas this issue is more notable
(Vägverket och Banverket, 2005). The risk of using fencing as a main strategy to reduce the HWC, can result in the fragmentation of species, specifically large mammals that are more vulnerable since they demand larger habitats (Vägverket och Banverket, 2005). Skåne have a substantial amount of agricultural land, further contributing to the risk of fragmentation. The wild boars normal habitat size outside Skåne is usually of larger kind, where distribution are more widespread. Skånes population of wild boars, consist of fragmented structure, resulting in higher population density and HWC in smaller specific areas (Svensk naturförvaltning, 2006). To reduce HWC and the risk of fragmentation, we suggest that fencing should not be used as a primal strategy.
B,C: Within the preventing strategy of guarding, both monitoring herds and active defense are included. This is applied in many places in the world, some strategic elements more advanced than others. Guarding often includes protecting people from physical harm from animals, which is not an issue caused by the animals chosen in this thesis. However, in the county of Skåne, there are (soon to be done in june 2019) preventing strategies such as a monitoring warning systems at the wild passage on Road 108 Svedala- Staffanstorp (Trafikverkets informationsblad, 2018). This system is based by detectors, places in the openings in the fence on both sides of the roads. When wildlife passages through, the warning lights, approximately 250 meters away, sets of and informs passing vehicles. This grants passage for animals >10 to cross the road, safely for both human and wildlife (Trafikverkets informationsblad, 2018). The county government of Skåne is also inventorying specific wild animals, such as the red deer. The red deer get counted after hunting season, this is done to monitor population, to give insight of trends and to follow up on the tribe development (Länsstyrelsen Skåne, 2019).
D: Relocation is also one of the preventing strategies. Relocation involves moving local
communities to areas offering better land and less losses. In this case, moving existing communities to prevent HWC is not a suggestion from our part, although furthermore
settlements should require taking animals and nature in consideration to prevent more issues. This, both by examining the areas of human developments, such as new infrastructure and habitation. We suggest further investigating existing roads and planning regarding traffic, to examine if more implementation could be made, for a more proactive approach.
In Sweden, a road or a rail project must be planned according to special processes that is governed by law (Trafikverket, 2017). This planning involves how the road should be built and where, budgeting, surveys, alternative routes and more. In the planning process, the
environmental impacts are examined, and the County Administrative board then decides if the project is assumed to have any significant environmental impacts. If the project has significant environmental impacts, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) will be conducted
(Trafikverket, 2017). Therefore, new roads are being evaluated in the matter, in an
environmental standpoint. Though, we suggest further investigating existing roads and planning regarding traffic, to examine if more implementation could be made in Skåne, for a more proactive approach. Furthermore, environmental aspects are also investigated, when planning new buildings. According to Boverket (2019) the natural values and the ecosystem services on the site must be considered. This, to analyze if high natural values should be preserved, if greenery on the area are important or can be relocated. It is in the detailed plan of a building project where possibility of binding regulated land, important for ecosystem services like park and water areas, are implied (Boverket, 2019).
F: Ecoducts and passages are essential in order to prevent traffic accidents, reduce the limits of habitat for wild animals and also connect biotopes. Connecting biotopes also contributes to less crops damages, since the density of ungulates are more widely spread across the county.
(personal communication, 2019). Building an ecoduct is not necessarily equivalent with being beneficial. In order to be beneficial, skillful management, planning and infrastructural/ecological knowledge in areas where there is a need of ecoducts is vita (personal communication, 2019). Skåne have implemented its first ecoduct over road E65 in april 2019. The county receives
targeted financial support from the Swedish government, in order to implement strategies to build ecoducts and also to correct old environmental mistakes regarding infrastructural areas (Trafikverket, 2018). The project was carried out by Trafikverket and there is a necessity for implementation of other ecoducts in the county. The cost of the project was estimated to 40 million SEK, which is lower than it was budgeted for. The lifespan of these types of ecoducts are also estimated to be around 120 years, with an annual cost of 20 000 SEK in operating costs (Trafikverket, 2019). After an interview with Dr. Mattias Olsson, and environmental specialist Annelie Rossander, who is involved with several projects regarding ecoducts, says that more passages and ecoducts are planned in Skåne. Annelie Rossander, responsible environmental specialist on the project of the new ecoduct also states that it does not always become an ecoduct where there is a need for passage, it depends on the necessity of transferring the whole
ecosystem (personal interview, 2019). Below, pictures of the ecoduct are inserted.
Skånes new ecoduct on the opening 26/4-2019. Private photo
Based on the new ecoduct and the planned projects, the interviews and data we presented, Skåne is displaying initiatives to decrease the HWC related to infrastructural areas. We suggest that Trafikverket together with Skåne county should continue to develop their coalition and use the subsidies they receive from the government in order to further prevent HWC. Based on the mapping analysis of the needs of passages, we suggest that a new ecoduct should be
implemented on road 11, below Vombsjön, to increase the mobility possibility of ungulates in the area, where a connection with habitats and the natural areas can be combined. Road 11 does
also have a railroad part wise alongside the road, that is used by museum traffic or trolley cycling and not regular trains. Considering railroads are more hazardous towards ungulates then roads (Celsing, 2007), we suggest to implement a passage between Illstorpsvägen and a few kilometers away from the end of the railroad. The fences alongside the railroad should also be inventoried and improved with fauna-fencing.
Distribution map of the need of passages. (Trafikverket, 2019).
A fauna fence is implemented along road 108 in Svedala. A fauna fence, unlike a game fence, is designed so that the animals cannot get under it. It looks like a game fence, but is equipped with a net that is dug under the ground. In order to improve the freedom of movement of the game, the fauna fence is opened up in two places so that the animals can cross the road. There will also be a game warning system that signals about game on the road and it is expected to be completed by July 2019 (Trafikverket, 2019). The wild warning system is completely new of its kind in Sweden and warns motorists when there are animals near or on the road. Since the project is not ready and of experimental kind, the cost is not yet revealed, but it is believed to be less than the cost of ecoducts.
From an interview with Dr. Mattias Olsson, researcher involved in the project of the new ecoduct states that fauna passage in collaboration with game warning systems can be of
beneficial structure. He explains that there will be a new type of fauna passage that can be built on roads and railways with lower traffic volume, and lower speed, that will entail new
opportunities to fix old environmental debts in a very cheap way. He further adds that Skåne have many many miles of fencing that divide the landscape and the technology will have great importance both to reduce barrier impact but also to reduce game accidents.
Due to the risk of fragmentation, traffic accidents and high mortality rate in game, ecopassages and bridges needs to be implemented in a higher number in Skåne. We therefore suggest that Skåne county further should invest in game warning systems, since the county also possess a large amount of smaller roads with lower speed, where implementation of ecoducts should be more expensive. We further suggest that fauna-fencing should be installed instead of gamefences on locations where this is the only option, since this type of fencing also hinders wild boars. The county of Skåne will in the spring of 2019 carry out a technical investigation on road 19 and road 23, to analyse which measures are appropriate to reduce the traffic accidents from wildlife. Measures that will be investigated more closely are fauna fences and various types of passages for wildlife. This report can be used in order to see which actions are needed, and if they can be combined with other strategies. Further, the county of Skåne plans to develop a roadmap with suggestions done by 2020-2021. At present, they believe that the measures will be implemented and completed by the end of 2024 on road 19 and 23.
Fauna fences alongside road 813 between Börringe Kloster and Sturup. Private photo
E, I: If wildlife causes damage to properties, the basic principle from the county government is that damage should preferably be prevented or hindered by ordinary hunting. If preventional methods is not enough, compensation can be given by the county government; but it does not include damage caused by ungulates (Länsstyrelsen, 2018). Only protected wild species (in Skåne) such as white headed goose, seals, lynx and wolf are species covered by this rule. The ungulates that this study focuses on, are not protected species, and therefor economic
compensation is not given in Skåne (SLU, 2018). Since the population of the ungulates are increasing and causing damage to both agricultural land and gardens, we suggest that the county government should, after an inspection, implement an incentive programme, an economic contribution to the affected households and farmers. We suggest that the county government should have the same strategic management as to the other protected species and predators, where compensation is given. An incentive programme like this, that is based on subsidies, can compensate the cost of conservation and create a conservation-friendly practice, creating more tolerance towards wildlife through the exchange of benefits. This can lead to a reduction in the long term of HWC (Mishra, et al 2003).
G: Even though the new gamepassage on road E65 will lead to less cost of traffic accidents, a translocation of the wild boars from the high density and confined areas around the road E65, is a good option to further reduce costs. Translocating boar strains can be a non-cost effective way of reducing HWC, but is motivated here because of the amount of households and schools nearby E65, where shooting off can be seemed as invasive. Also, the road E65 is an area with many traffic accidents every year, due to the high speed road, where connecting roads possess high amount of traffic accidents with the wild boars as well. We suggest that the optimal translocating site for wild boars can be in the north of Skåne where there is less density of households and better hunting areas. There is an economic benefit to the county, where the economic loss of damaged crops can be equated by the income of game hunting of the wild boars (Gordon et al., 2012). In many countries HWC is managed by hunting which is a low cost technique that acquire the presumption to raise public tolerance towards wildlife. The money collected from the hunting on properties and the sales of licenses, can fund conservation (Distefano, 2004).
Revenues from hunting can also exceed the costs for the crop damages, and alongside with fences around the cropland, further economic benefits are reached (SLU, 2018).
H: The HWC in the county of Skåne also contributes to loss of crops and in one of the mitigative strategies crop insurance is suggested. Crop insurance covers the risk of wildlife attacks as well as crop-and livestock losses (The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2010). The crop insurance has not been applied in any large scale, although, a collaborative insurance program is on progress in a state in India (Distefano, 2004). In Sweden, farmers can apply for compensation by subsidy. Therefore, individual that has suffered loss by wildlife can seek compensation for their losses.
The 4 § of Naturvårdsverkets författarsamling (NFS) 2018:5 states that there are funds that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency annually submits to county administrative boards for damage caused by wildlife. The paragraph states that economic contributions may be used for the following;
● Implementation of measures designed to prevent wildlife damage/accidents, caused by wildlife.
● Development of measures that are intended to prevent wildlife damage/accidents, caused by wildlife.
● Compensation for game damage, caused by wildlife.
● Information and education about measures that are intended to prevent wildlife damage/accidents, caused by wildlife
● Evaluation of the previous approaches above ● The inspection staff activities
We believe that funds and support are substantial for maintaining a sustainable farming. Since funds and economic compensation are available, more accessible information should be available for farmers and other individuals affected by losses. This, to contribute and benefit the swedish agriculture.
J: Community based natural resource management schemes (CBNRMS) is defined as a
2008). A community could be a whole village or group of people using the resources and in this case it involves the county of Skåne. The natural resources involves many aspects, but this bachelor thesis focuses on wildlife and rangeland, which are affected by HWC in Skåne. Even if the wild animals >10 kg in this thesis involves many obstacles, there are positive aspects to acknowledge. The wild boar causes loss of crops, costing millions of SEK each year, however, they grubbing is positive for the biodiversity. According to SLU (2019) the fallow deer is not only a contributor for biodiversity, they can also be earning for farmers, that get economic benefits for selling hunting rights on their land. This contribution could balance out (or
outweigh) the cost of their losses and give farmers more economic profit than they would have had if the animals were not there in the first place (SLU, 2019). Therefore, the CBNRMS could also be seen as an aspect of a natural resource, since the wildlife and rangeland also benefits from the wild animals > 10 kg. By CBNRMS, the community can contribute for natural resources to be promoted for conservation, and help decision makers to reach perspectives and goals (usaid, 2008)
4.2 Interview
The result of the qualitative interview present the respondents knowledge and opinions of wildlife, ecoducts, fencing and similar projects in the county of Skåne. The data was later analysed in four selected themes which are presented below. The first respondent was Annelie Rossander, who is an environmental specialist working at the Swedish transport administration. Her interview was conducted during the ecoduct opening in Lemmeströtorp, located in the municipality of Svedala, on the 26th of April 2019. The second interview was conducted with Mattias Olson, doctor in biology and one of the researchers working on the ecoduct previously mentioned, in Lemmeströtorp. The interview was managed with computer-assisted personal interviewing technique (CAPI) through E-mail correspondence.
The selected themes: ● Economy
● Human- wildlife conflict (HWC) ● Solutions
● Management
Economy
Rossander discussed the economic benefits of ecoducts and fencing. She stated that these strategic tools brings less loss of crops for farmers and decreased numbers of traffic accidents, which can to some extent, balance out some of the costs of ecoducts and other implements. She also mentioned that some money are saved for further installments on existing infrastructure and new projects. Rossander says that the ecoduct in Lemmeströtorp was less costly than it was budgeted for. This, even though the traffic under the bridge was functioning during a part of the ecoduct building, and the specific ecoduct in Lemmeströtorp’s price landed on a cost of under 50 million SEK (Skd, 2018) According to Olsson, the total economic benefits are difficult to
conclude with today's methods. He believes that new methods and tools need further developing to fairly conclude the total economic benefits. This, since the values of not only includes less wildlife- accident and higher traffic security.
Human- wildlife conflict (HWC)
According to Rossander, finding a realistic dream scenario of coexistence between wildlife and humans is also a complex matter. She states that wild animals in large tribes contributes to challenges in management which can, for example, lead to the solution of shooting off wildlife. Rossander also states that in her job, she often talks about this issue and that many people share the opinion regarding shooting off roe deer’s. Olsson agrees about the complexity of the
coexistence between wildlife and humans. He also mentions that more hunting in high risk areas could be beneficial for reducing HWC accidents. Olsson also states that insufficient management causes suffering for animals, as well as loss of good wild meat. According to Olsson, the HWC
conflict can still exist, even after applying these sorts of adjustments like an ecoduct or wild passage;
“If a fenced road without passage has existed for a long time, wildlife has become accustomed to the barrier, and adapted to the landscape in which they live. When you then make a new ecoduct, it can take a long time before the animals find their way to the place, and see a reason to pass. Different animals move in different scales in different landscapes, and it is not self-evident that it will be a success when you subsequently defragment the landscape” -M. Olsson
Olsson has also been a part of a previous ecoduct project in the municipality of Göteborg,
Ekodukt Sandsjöbacka. He mentions many benefits from the previous project, but also states that some animal species have not adapted to the ecoduct. Only a few mooses and wild boars have passed since the opening for the first 10 months. The new ecoduct in Lömmelstorp, will most likely not have this issue with wild boars and moose according to Olsson, who believes that the new ecoduct will be a success. This is due to the size of the new ecoduct and the high population of wildlife in Skåne. The larger size helps wildlife not to be scared to pass over, which is the issue with the smaller, narrower, fauna passages. Olsson lastly mentions the varied, positive landscape in the area as a huge bonus for wildlife passage in Lömmelstorp. Rossander agrees with Olsson that there are positive aspects, in specific for red deer, regarding the larger size of the new ecoduct that has been built in Lemmeströtorp;
“For the red deer mainly, it needs a larger passage. It is a key species here, especially since we got the origin race here. ``
- A. Rossander
Based on the successful results from the ecoduct in Göteborg, she is convinced that this first ecoduct in Skåne will be beneficial in preventing HWC occurrence.
Solutions
Both Olsson and Rossander are positive towards the implementations of passages and ecoducts, and mentions more ongoing projects of ecoducts and installments in the county of Skåne. Olsson discuss some of the projects that are currently in progress, like the wildlife passage on road 108 Svedala- Staffanstorp and the faunapassage at Hallandsåsen. Olsson also adds that the positive aspects of what ecoducts and fauna passages contributes to distribution of wildlife in the landscape. According to Olsson, this leads to less damage to the forest and crops and reduces traffic accidents related to HWC. He believes that some of these actions can, in theory, possibly reduce the game accidents to zero after taking action. One other action that has been installed are cattle grid to prevent wildlife to pass on to gardens and homes. This has been implemented as a solution for some parts of the county of Skåne. Regarding the efficiency of cattle grid, Rossander confirms their positive attributes has been detected through follow ups.
There are more solutions and developing models of existing fauna passages. Olsson informs about a new kind of faunapassage, that can be constructed on roads and railway with lower speed. These new fauna passages will entail new opportunities in a very affordable way. This, since we have many many miles of fencing that divide the landscape and the technology will have great importance both by reducing barrier impact but also to reduce game accidents. Furthermore, he states that only laying wild fences has a limited effect, as the animals often break through the fence. Olsson also believes that new technology, like advanced cars, could lower the risk of game accidents with wildlife on smaller roads. Additional, Olsson believes that there will be more positive aspects of placing fences on motorways;
“I believe that game fencing and fauna passages on motorways will be important in the future, as the traffic volume is so high that the animals are so disturbed by traffic that the traffic flow itself forms a barrier”
-M. Olsson
Lastly, Olsson describe the importance of adding safe fauna passages, since the risk of the animals breaking through the game fence, getting out into traffic places and finding fence
openings at connecting roads, decreases. He means that this give an increased effect and lower number of game accidents.
Management
Rossander states that Trafikverket, in all new projects, work with game passage possibilities even if it not always become an ecoduct. She explained that one of the biggest interests they work with is to solve the game problem and enable passages. Rossander says that they have a budget for this implements, and that they also has intention and goals on how to manage them. Furthermore, Rossander explains their goals with sustainable infrastructure, and that they evaluate opportunities of passages in new development.
Both in Sweden and abroad, risk analysis are made to identify wild accidents ocurrens. Olsson explains that the need is gigantic, and somewhere one has to prioritize. Olsson also states that managing and applying ecoduct also have to be planned for a very long period of time. He explains that today's ecoducts often are built for a future time span of about 120 years. During this long time period, he says, a lot of things will happen in the landscape around the ecoduct. In the long term, the ecoduct (referring to the ecoduct in Lemmeströtorp) will become a bridge that will be used extensively by the animals. Furthermore, Olsson explains about the previous ecoduct Sandsjöbacka in Göteborg. Within the managing, continuing and following up the efficiency of the project are important. Olsson says;
“We are now conducting an environmental follow-up program in Sandsjöbacka. The ecoduct is built for a wide range of species”
-M. Olsson
In the environmental follow up program, Olsson mentions the socio- economic values, the species mentioned, the decreasing of wildlife accidents on road E6 due to the ecoduct, cattle grid etc. Olsson says that the follow-up program will go on for many years to come. This quote also refers to other animals, which were also the target group on the previous ecoduct in Göteborg.
Some of these species, besides the wildlife 10 > kg in our study, mentioned are insects, dormice, bats and reptiles (snakes and lizards for example). These smaller species of wildlife are not, however, not the main target group with the Ecoduct in Svedala since the newly built ecoduct mostly focuses on the larger animals >10 kg mentioned in our thesis.
4.3 Online survey
Ethical views of nature
Furthermore, an examination of the participants natural views, as described in Kronlid (2011), were made. Question 20 and 21 in the survey questions, attached in Annex 1, were directly connected to the respondents ethical views of nature. These questions were answered by three groups; group 1 of the general public, group 2 of environmental science students/workers, and group 3 of hunters. The questions in the survey was answered by 23 respondents in each groups. By using the online survey we could find differences in the respondents opinions and ethical views of nature. Given questions were coded and analyzed and put into each section, consisting of the ethical views: antropocentric, biocentric, ecocentric and zoocentric. The result is presented in the diagrams, showing that there is a difference in how they view nature and which ethical value of nature that they expressed.
The first group that was studied was group 1, consisting of the general public. According to the gathered data, 66,7% respondents answered that they do not believe that humans has the right to use land and assets before the animals. This was later followed by the assumption, which the respondents were asked to choose was most related to their ethical views. This resulted in 60,9% of the respondents answered that they believe that animals, nature and humans have equal value and should therefore be treated equally. By these questions, the data presents that the general public mostly resembles the ethical view of nature of ecocentrism. Furthermore, 21,7% of the respondents were categorized in biocentrism and 13% in zoocentrism. Lastly, only 4,4% of the general public choose the answer resembling anthropocentrism.
Group 2 consisted, as previously mentioned, of environmental students and workers. According to the gathered data, 87.5% of the respondents answered that they do not believe that humans has the right to claim land and assets before the animals. By analyzing the question followed, this matches their ethical views of nature due to the responses received. According to the statistics, 70% of the respondents believe that animals, nature and humans have equal value and should be treated equally. Therefore, this concludes that the respondents in group 2 will be categorized in the ethical view of nature as ecocentrism. This later followed by 12,5 %
biocentrism, 12,5% of zoocentrism and lastly, only 4,2% of anthropocentrism.
Furthermore, the final analysis of group 3, consisting of hunters, was conducted.
According to their response, 60,9% of the respondents in group 3 believes that they believe that human has the right to use land and assets before the animals. Therefore, hunters are the group in this study, with most anthropocentric views in this question. This contradict the following
question, since 36,4% answer that they believe that animal, nature and humans have equal value and should be treated equally (ecocentrism), and, 31,8% of the respondents answer that all living animals, fish and insects but not plants/nature, have an intrinsic value and are thus equally
valuable (biocentrism). Also, 22% gave an answer that related to the ethical view of zoocentrism. Lastly, only 9,1% of the hunters answered that they think that humans possess higher in value,
and therefore have the right to use it to their advantage. Therefore, placing a category of ethical
views for the group 3, consisting of hunters, could be problematic. Why do the hunters answer that humans, nature and animals possesses a value and should be treated equally, yet claim that human has the right to use land and assets before the animals? One answer could possibly be explained by the concept of cognitive dissonance. This could also be because of the concept of
social desirability which reference could mislead the results since the answer is inaccurate to
their actions (Nilsson & Martinsson, 2012). Group 1 and group 2 had more transparent answers to categorize, due to the consistency in their responses. However, we also noted that, according to the gathered data, 33,3% respondents from the group 1, general public, answered that humans has the right to use land and assets before the animals. In contradict, the question followed only 4,3% answered that human possesses a higher in value, and therefore have the right to it to their advantage. This brings the same question in both group 1 and 3, even though group 3 got a significantly higher differ.
Respondents ethical views from online survey. N= 23
The group that answered with the highest percentage from an ecocentrism view was group 2, the environmental students/workers. Compared to group 3, hunters, had the lowest percentage with 23 % of the respondents that answered from an ecocentric standpoint.
The stakeholders most suitable for handling the problems regarding HWC
Later, we studied the respondents answer regarding which stakeholders they believe should be suitable for handling the problem of game damage, caused by the HWC. The three highest chosen stakeholders are detected in each group and compared with each other. The stakeholders are settled in chronological order, more specifically, from highest to lowest. According to the data, Group 1 of the general public responded that the stakeholder most suitable to handle the problem of game damage is the county government, organisations and for-profit companies. Group 2, consisting of environmental students/ agrees with group 1 regarding that the stakeholder, most suitable to handle the HWC is the county government and organisations. However, they believe that the third stakeholder should both be for-profit companies and private self-acting individuals. Group 3, of hunters, answered that they believe that the stakeholder most suitable in this matters is the county government and private self-acting individuals. Thirdly, the hunters believe that organisations are most suitable to handle the problematics regarding HWC.
Therefore, by the results, we can detect that the three groups had the same stakeholders
accountable, but the order of most suitable stakeholder was not the same for either of the groups.
Future coexistence between wild animals and humans
The respondents in the online-survey answered on how they believe the future holds, regarding co-existence between wild animals and humans. The respondents in group 1, consisting of the general public, answered that they believe that the future regarding co-existence is 52% good, 20% “quite bad” and 20% “very bad”. Only 8% of the respondents in group 1 believed that the co-existence will be “very good” in the future.
In Group 2, consisting of the environmental students/workers, 45,8% believed that the future regarding co-existence between wild animals and humans is “quite bad”, 29,2% believe the future to be “good”, and 20,8% believes that the future will be “very bad”. Lastly, only 4,2% of the respondents believe that the future for co-existence is “very good”. Furthermore,
According to group 3, of hunters, 43,5% believes that future is “good”, 34% answered “quite bad” and 21,7% of the respondents answered very good. None of the respondents in group 3 answered that they believed that the future regarding HWC was “very bad”. Therefore, we can conclude that the respondents of the studied groups, possesses different beliefs regarding the future of solving the HWC in the county of Skåne. Group 1 and group 3, both had the highest response that the prediction of future HWC management will be “good”. Also noticed, the response of “very good” was fairly low in the three groups.
When low environmental impact strategies and traditional low cost deterrents are not effective, such as insufficient fencing, more invasive approaches for instance regulated
harvesting or wildlife translocation should be considered (Distefano, 2004). To reduce HWC and the risk of fragmentation, we suggest that fencing should not be used as a primal strategy as it currently is. Considering the HWC is increasing in Skåne and there have already been made efforts to decrease the conflict without optimal success, we suggest that translocating some of the herds and increase the income to landowners from hunting opportunities in order to equalize loss of damaged crops, are of the essence. In many countries HWC is managed by hunting which is a low cost technique that acquire the presumption to raise public tolerance towards wildlife. The
money collected from the hunting on properties and the sales of licenses, can also additionally fund conservation (Distefano, 2004). Revenues from hunting can also exceed the costs for the crop damages, where further economic benefits are reached (SLU, 2018).
Further, regarding conservation of the concerned ungulates in Skåne, compensation can be one of the most important strategies to look into, as reduction management of HWC (Bulte & Rondeau, 2007). As of today, if prevention methods is not enough, compensation can be given by the county government; but it does not include damage caused by ungulates (Länsstyrelsen, 2018). Only protected wild species (in Skåne) such as white headed goose, seals, lynx and wolf are species covered by this rule. The ungulates that this study focuses on, are not protected species, and therefor economic compensation is not given when these animals cause damage to properties (SLU, 2018). Since the population of the ungulates are increasing and causing damage to both agricultural land and gardens, we suggest that the county government should, after an inspection implement a subsidy to the affected household. Since the relationship between residents that are affected badly from HWC and the government can be complicated, compensation and incentive programs are a strategic useful tool, to mitigate HWC, that can improve the relationship that exist between the government and affected residents (Mishra et al. 2003, MacLennan et al, 2009). The compensation can be given as a subsidy in the form of seeds, covered medical costs or other materialistic tools (Nyhus and Suminanto 2000). We suggest that it is given by financial subsidy after it has followed the same method as already implemented in the county, regarding compensation from wildlife damage from protected species on properties. These kinds of compensation programs are shown to be effective if there is a unity amongst residents, regarding the issue of HWC (Nyhus et al, 2005), we therefore believe that adding an incentive program with the goal to spread ecological knowledge of the concerned mammals are important and to show why the conservation of them are necessary. Negative aspects from compensational strategies, can be bias in distribution (Bulte and Rondeau, 2007), but if the county follows the same method as already applied for protected species, with an inspection, this issue can be prevented in broader context.
Building more passages to connect habitats and implement several more monitorial warning systems alongside roads with game passages is also our proposal for mitigation of the
