Ivar Herfindal

People and Wildlife: Zoning as a means of mitigating conflicts with large carnivores: principles and reality

ZONING: A CONCEPTUAL INTRODUCTION Conflicts in land use are an inevitable consequence of the presently high human population densities living on a planet of finite size. Within this finite space, land use planners struggle to integrate as many potentially conflicting elements as possible using two approaches: the multi-use concept where compatible land uses can occur in the same area, and zoning. Zoning is any form of geographically differentiated land management where different forms of potentially conflicting land use are given priority in different areas. For example, in modern town planning some areas are zoned as residential, others as commercial, industrial, agricultural or recreational. Zoning has been widely used in biodiversity conservation in the creation of national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas. The focus of this chapter is to examine how zoning can be applied to the conservation of large carnivores. This requires balancing the twin goals of conserving viable populations of large carnivores, and minimizing conflicts with humans, which is proving to be an exceptional challenge in our crowded world. LARGE CARNIVORES AND HUMAN ACTIVITY: CONFLICTS, COMPATIBILITY AND CONTEXT Conflict Zoning is only an issue because large carnivores cause conflicts with some human activities and interests throughout the world. These conflicts have been described in detail elsewhere (Woodroffe et al ., Chapter 1, Thirgood et al ., Chapter 2) but here we shall list the most important conflicts relevant for the discussion on zoning.

Roe Deer Population Growth and Lynx Predation along a Gradient of Environmental Productivity and Climate in Norway

Abstract: The extent to which large carnivores compete with hunters for harvestable populations of wild ungulates is a topic of widespread controversy in many areas of the world where carnivore populations are recovering or are reintroduced. Theory predicts that predation impacts should vary with prey density and environmental conditions. To test this prediction, we analyzed trends in an index of population abundance of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) over 9 y in 144 Norwegian municipalities. The municipalities span a wide range of landscapes and climatic conditions and were associated with a varying degree of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) presence. There was a wide variation in trends of roe deer abundance (estimated long-term average &lgr; ranging from 0.69 to 1.23) among municipalities. Roe deer population growth rates were lower in the municipalities with lynx and harsh climatic conditions than in municipalities with mild climatic conditions and/or without lynx. Thus, lynx presence appears to be having a negative impact on roe deer populations; this was especially evident in areas with unfavourable environmental conditions. Our finding that estimated long-term average values of &lgr; were less than 1 in many municipalities indicates that roe deer populations in Norway may not be able to sustain current combined mortality from hunters and lynx, especially in marginal areas.