Coexistence with Large Carnivores in the North West of Spain

Coexistence with large carnivores in the north west of Spain Agnese Marino Taussig de Bodonia Thesis submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology, University College London March 2019 1 Declaration I, Agnese Marino, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Agnese Marino 2 Abstract Relationships between humans and large carnivores are multi-layered and built on a variety of values, beliefs and interactions. When the experience of coexistence is predominantly negative, both local livelihoods and carnivore conservation can suffer. By focusing on an area of Spain where local communities have always lived alongside wolves and bears, this research aims to study how local experiences of coexistence are shaped by governance approaches. The study is a comparison between four different sites with distinct socio-political characteristics and with different large carnivore management policies. Semi-structured and informal interviews were carried out with over 60 informants, and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a sample of livestock farmers (n=271), hunters (n=157) and beekeepers (n=40), in order to compare carnivore acceptance levels and narrative constructs across the study sites. The thesis begins by introducing the broader context in which interactions with carnivores take place, and by exploring how changes in the landscape and in traditional livestock farming practices driven by agricultural policy have shaped local perceptions of the environment and of resource user’s role within it. The thesis then presents a synthesis the wolf governance systems in place across the study sites, and explores their effects on coexistence between wolves and local resource users. Using theories on environmentality, I analyse the ideological approaches underlying carnivore governance, and then look at how these approaches are received on the ground, by examining how local resource users either assimilate or resist governance approaches. The final chapter then focusses on two study areas with similar bear presence, to investigate the socio- political drivers that result in different levels of acceptance of bears among resource users. In doing so, it looks at the ways in which narratives over bear recovery, protected area management and land tenure resonate with each other and serve to reinforce one another. 3 Impact statement Large carnivores are among the most endangered animals worldwide . However, following their legal protection and the ban on poison in the 1970s, some of their populations in Europe and North America are slowly recovering. As large carnivores are expanding beyond their former ranges and causing damages to local livelihoods, conservation efforts are being directed towards creating more positive experiences of coexistence between humans and carnivores. In this context, there is an increasing need to understand and value the experience of places where humans and large carnivores have successfully coexisted for centuries. Examples of long established and sustainable human animal relations can shed light on the conditions and coping strategies that foster coexistence. These surely include ecological and habitat components, but are also likely to encompass a variety of cultural, social, behavioural and livelihood strategies that enable humans to live alongside potentially dangerous or damaging wildlife. Understanding these factors has important implications for how we understand coexistence between people and wildlife, and for how we strive to achieve it elsewhere The overall aim of my thesis was to understand the factors that promote coexistence in an area of historical carnivore presence. To do this, I conducted research in four study sites across the Cantabrian Mountains in the north west of Spain, where local communities have lived along wolves and brown bears for centuries. My main goal was to understand how coexistence is defined and experienced on the ground, but also to explore how it has been shaped by past and present management and conservation approaches. To find out, I conducted over 300 interviews with local farmers hunters, beekeepers and member of the community My results show that local communities valued above all else a productive landscape and a kind of nature that is produced and maintained by human activity and stewardship. In the case of bears, local communities experience coexistence relatively positively. The emotional connection they developed with the species 4 over centuries of interactions was strengthened by policies that promoted tourism and that turned bears into symbols of ecological and cultural significance. In the case of wolves, on the other hand, coexistence appeared much more delicate. Because wolves cause significant damage to livestock, most community members wanted greater freedom to control and reduce their populations. This however, did not mean they were completely opposed to wolf conservation, as most people believed that wolves belonged in the landscape. My results show that conflict does not preclude the possibility of functional coexistence. In fact, certain kinds of conflict might be positive, when they are a sign of cultural diversity. My results point to the importance of developing place-based conservation approaches. These are a kind of conservation approach that foregrounds local voices, that is sensitive to the needs and interest of different societies, and is open to different ways through which they define their relations with nature. My findings have important implications for how conservation is understood and carried out, and they may be put to use to positively impact communities and wildlife that live alongside each other. 5 Acknowledgements I will start by expressing my deepest gratitude to my two formidable thesis supervisors. I thank Dr. Sarah Durant for her unwavering support and encouragement, for all of her time, input and advice and for allowing me utmost freedom to explore unexpected avenues whilst always making me feel grounded. I thank Prof. Katherine Homewood for her time and insight and for providing that sense of security that came with knowing she was ready to read and comment when most needed. I am extremely grateful to the senior and junior members of the Human Ecology Research Group (HERG) at UCL, whose presentations and discussions have given me a whole new way of seeing and reflecting on the challenges of my research. Special acknowledgments go to Sahil Nijhawan, Tom Fry and Lydia Gibson, with whom I have had long discussions and to whom I owe so much knowledge and gratitude, for their friendship and for commenting sections of the thesis. I also thank Prof. Philip Burnham and Dr. Jerome Lewis for their advice, and Dr. Sam Turvey for his suggestions during my upgrade. Finally, I am grateful to the staff, students and friends from ZSL and UCL, with whom it has been wonderful to share the past years. Finally I am grateful to Dr. Emily Woodhouse and Prof. Camilla Sandstrom for their precious feedback as examiners. I will move on to express my immense gratitude to my local collaborators, without whose support this thesis would not have come into shape. I will start by thanking Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco, for his advice and knowledge, for the warm welcome as well as the contacts and facilitations he provided. I am also grateful to Dr. Jose Vicente López-Bao for so generously sharing his knowledge and time, for his field visits and for his support and contagious enthusiasm. I thank la Fundación Oso Pardo for the local support and guidance, especially Guillermo Palomero, Dr. Fernando Ballesteros, Elias, Marcos, Carlos, Luis, Elsa and Begaña, and I also thank Bernardo Canal, Santiago Palazón and the staff of the Pallars Sobirà nature reserve, as well as Dr. Javier Naves for advice in the early stages of the research. A separate and important acknowledgement goes to my two fieldwork assistants, Anna Planella Bosch and Oriol Campi, whose hard work various parts of this 6 thesis depend on. I also thank my donors, University College London, NERC, the Royal Geographic Society, and the University of Oviedo whose funding was secured by Jose Vicente López-Bao. I thank the Regional Administration of Asturias and the Provincial Administration of León for providing data on carnivore damages and the livestock farming sector. My biggest gratitude goes to all my informants, to whom I owe hundreds of hours- worth of knowledge and kindness. Many ideas contained in this thesis belong to or were inspired by the people I spoke with in the field. I thank the mayors of towns, the rangers, the tourism company and hostelry owners, the local residents, the beekeepers, the hunters and the farmers that allowed me into their homes, fed me, told me their stories, shared their experience, and so often went out of their way to help me. I am most grateful to Somiedo, Xedré, and the many other towns whose warmth and beauty has accompanied me for the past years. Finally, I am grateful to my friends, family and dogs for their love and emotional labour. Special thanks go to my friends in London that have kept me cheerful, to my family and friends that have always felt close despite the physical distance, and to Oriol who has shared important parts of this journey with me. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CHAPTER 1 Introduction.........................................................................

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