That one jaguar passing by my backyard, means my welfare

This session will feature a puzzle telling the story of a gloomy initial human-wildlife conflict, for which proposed solutions seemed ineffective or incomplete. However, once complexity is embraced, the story turns into a very welcomed, livelihood improving, initiative. Using the format of a puzzle, Ronit Amit from the People & Fauna Program will summarise a process to generate benefits for rural towns to coexist with jaguars and pumas in Costa Rica. Puzzle pieces will represent diverse knowledge sources and solving the puzzle will represent the importance of interdisciplinary work by highlighting both the conservation challenges and the solutions proposed to solve them.

Ronit Amit has listened to stakeholders related to wildlife interactions and this literal and figurative puzzle exhibits their voices and views. Still ongoing, this is a process to devolve rights and responsibilities to local people on their wildlife management. The focus on “Wildlife means Welfare” (the People & Fauna Program’s slogan) represents the programme’s goal to foster pro-coexistence behaviours. By Ronit Amit, PhD. University of Costa Rica and People & Fauna Program.