The contribution of the LIFE program to mitigating damages caused by large carnivores in Europe

Oliveira, Teresa (author), Treves, Adrian (author), López-Bao, José Vicente (author), Krofel, Miha (author)

Governments around the world invest considerable resources to reduce damages caused by large carnivores on human property. To use these investments more efficiently and effectively, we need to understand which interventions successfully prevent such damages and which do not. In the European Union, the LIFE program represents by far the largest financial instrument to help EU Member States with the implementation of conservation activities, including mitigation of damages caused by large carnivores. However, we currently lack information about the effectiveness of this funding program in reducing carnivore damages. We reviewed 135 LIFE projects dealing with large carnivores between 1992 and 2019 to provide an overview of the use of damage prevention methods and evaluate their functional and perceived effectiveness. Methods evaluated ranged from non-lethal and lethal interventions, to information dissemination and compensation schemes. The largest number of the projects was focused on grey wolf (Canis lupus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Mediterranean countries and in Romania. Electric fences were reported as the most successful method for reducing damages by large carnivores, and most of the non-lethal methods used showed at least moderate effectiveness. However, standards of measuring and reporting effectiveness were in general relatively low, which limits our ability to measure actual impact. We urge project managers and evaluators to improve these standards, as well as the dissemination of the project results. We provide a list of recommendations for improving measuring and reporting success of implemented interventions for the benefit of future projects aimed to reduce damages caused by wildlife.

• Language: English
• Keywords: coexistence, human-wildlife conflicts, Europe, damage prevention, brown bear, grey wolf, Eurasian lynx, electric fences, livestock guarding dogs
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 31, art. e01815
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-132858
• UDC: 630*15
• ISSN on article: 2351-9894
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01815
• COBISS.SI-ID: 83671299
• Publication date in RUL: 05.11.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Global ecology and conservation
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2351-9894
• COBISS.SI-ID: 520381209

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: sožitje bivanja, konflikti med človekom in prostoživečimi živalmi, konflikti, Evropa, preprečevanje škode, rjavi medved, sivi volk, evroazijski ris, električne ograje, psi čuvaji živine