About snowy plovers, lapwings and wolves: How to include contrasting visions of ecologists and laymen in decision-making

Abstract

The story of the snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) in California as presented by Anita Guerrini (Chapter 6) is an interesting example of nature conservation in practice. The study reveals the problems that arise when different values and interests are involved in decision-making processes concerned with the protection of wild animals and landscapes. It is certainly not the first and only story about the relationship between humans, wild animals and their habitats or ecosystems. For instance, serious problems with the implementation of EU regulations regarding wildlife and nature reserves have been reported in several European countries. During the last decade, this rather strict European nature-conservation legislation has repeatedly caused delays and changes of plans in the construction of roads, harbors and industrial areas. In all these cases, conservationists made use of the new, tough legislation because they were afraid that a unique landscape or a threatened species would be affected by proposed measures such as the building of infrastructure. Sometimes little-known species were involved, such as the rare and tiny Desmoulins whorl snail (Vertigo moulinsiana). As a consequence, various other stakeholders strongly opposed this kind of nature conservation. Even major nature conservation organizations feel uncomfortable about the impact of the European legislation. Ironically, the strict legislation has also hindered the sometimes necessary adaptations of nature conservation regimes. Further problems concerning the protection of wild animals have arisen in situations where human communities are threatened by certain endangered but dangerous large mammals such as tigers and bears, as has occurred in various parts of the world. We can recognize some of the central questions of the plover story in many studies concerning these types of cases: what is the relationship between humans and these animals? And what is the precise meaning of the animals in relationship to the landscape in which they live? More generally, the main question is how decisionmaking about these kinds of conflicts should be analyzed and evaluated, and may be improved. In addition, the dynamics of these relationships can be questioned. These are the central questions I would like to reflect on. Although the legitimacy, the nature and dynamics of the related decision-making processes are also important issues, I will leave out these questions because they play only an implicit role in Anita Guerrinis paper (but see Keulartz & Leistra, 2008). Firstly, I will briefly discuss several observations and underlying premises expounded in Anita Guerrinis paper, and then suggest an alternative approach, founded on a number of empirical studies and theoretical considerations. Although a kind of interpretative scheme is needed to connect values, species, ecosystems and decision-making, I will only present some elements of such a scheme.