Abstract

This organized session will feature talks by six of Defenders’ staff working at the frontlines of human-wildlife coexistence. Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of native animals and plants in North America, has long worked at the forefront of advancing human-wildlife coexistence. In celebration of more than 30 years of coexistence work, Defenders is marking 2019 as the Year of Coexistence. Our work in this area is diverse, spanning species, scales and levels of decision-making, with activities ranging from pioneering management interventions to organizing outreach efforts that strengthen social acceptance of wildlife to advocating for federal and state policies and regulations. As Defenders’ activities have grown and evolved over time, we have developed key strategies of success that enable sustainable, resilient coexistence between people and wildlife. These strategies are built on guiding principles of conservation science, conflict resolution, social change and economics that are broad enough to be universally applicable but also sufficiently flexible to be adaptable to the unique context of local communities. In this session, we will share these key strategies of successful coexistence through the lens of species and landscapes which Defenders protects across North America.