Renewed coexistence: learning from steering group stakeholders on a beaver reintroduction project in England

Abstract

Species reintroductions are growing in popularity, and example motivations include supporting species populations or the restoration of ecosystem function. Interactions between humans and the reintroduced species are likely to occur post-reintroduction. Coexistence between humans and wildlife is adaptive and dynamic, in part requiring management of conflicts between humans and wildlife, or of conflicts between humans over wildlife management. We seek to learn from the experiences of steering group members in a Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) project in England and identify how governance of coexistence with reintroduced species may differ from the governance of coexistence with species that are already present in the landscape. Using a qualitative thematic analysis of an online survey, we identify a series of lessons in six key areas: (1) project governance, (2) stakeholder engagement, (3) research and monitoring programme, (4) strategy to manage arising conflicts, (5) public engagement, and (6) broad perspectives on reintroduction trials. We advocate for reflective evaluation as an essential component of reintroduction projects to enable knowledge-sharing from experiences, leading to improved practices in the future. Reflecting on our analysis, we identify and define 'Renewed Coexistence'-a new term that draws on pre-existing coexistence knowledge but identifies the unique elements that relate to governing coexistence with reintroduced species.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10344-021-01555-6.

Keywords: Beaver; Castor fiber; Coexistence; Human dimensions; Reintroduction; Renewed coexistence; Stakeholder engagement.

Fig. 1

Illustration of the groups upon which participants sat, using assigned participant numbers

Fig. 2

Summary of over-arching themes formed of their respective subthemes