How stakeholder representatives cope with collaboration in the Swedish moose management system

Abstract

The collaborative ecosystem-based management of moose (Alces alces) in Sweden puts a strain on the involved stakeholders. Representatives have to cope with environmental uncertainty and social stress associated with goal conflicts. This article advanced the understanding of representatives' coping strategies in response to perceived challenges and how these coping strategies are associated with social trust, focusing upon salient value similarity. A mixed-method approach, combining a questionnaire survey (n = 624) and interviews (n = 21) among landowners and hunter representatives, was employed. Survey results showed that the presence of emotion-centered coping strategies that involve venting of negative emotions and behavioral disengagement were associated with relatively lower trust, whereas problem-solving centered coping was associated with relatively higher trust. The interviews indicated the importance of appointing group leaders who are skilled at initiating dialogue and working toward decisions and compromises, as this seemed to hinder expressions of emotion-centered coping strategies.

Local People’s Appraisal of the Fishery-Seal Situation in Traditional Fishing Villages on the Baltic Sea Coast in Southeast Sweden

“…Transitions from emphasis on food production to other forms of natural resource utilization are characteristic for coastal areas where commercial fisheries have to adapt to new circumstances (Salmi 2015). The coping potential, or resilience, depends on local adaptability and transformability (Salmi 2015), and depends on both the collective and the individuals within the collective (Johansson et al 2019b).…”

Expectations about voluntary efforts in collaborative governance and the fit with perceived prerequisites of intrinsic motivation in Sweden’s ecosystem-based moose management system

“…We analyze discrepancies among representatives in their views on the prerequisites to hold the necessary skill (perceived knowledge and usefulness of methods), to allow for autonomy in the collaborations (perceived support and access to resources), and to allow for relatedness to external stakeholders (perceived relatedness). We acknowledge that, in the enactment of the regime, social psychological processes involving values, norms, attitudes, and trust also play into the function of the groups and management outcome (Dressel et al 2020b, Johansson et al 2020) but this article is limited to the characteristics of the governance regime itself.…”

“…Variations in land ownership, land use patterns across the country, and thereby a diversity in management objectives, require local adaptations (Dressel et al 2018). Altogether, the system creates stressful situations for those involved (Johansson et al 2020). This may potentially have further negative impacts on the effectiveness of the regime, which is largely based on voluntary activities and stakeholders' long-term commitment to being part of the management system (Dressel et al 2021).…”

Moose Management Strategies under Changing Legal and Institutional Frameworks

“…In Sweden, a collaborative ecosystem-based management of moose [47] aims to "achieve a high-quality moose population in balance with the grazing resources" [48], solving also conflict between hunters and other societal interests [49]. Moose management groups include landowners, hunters and reindeer husbandry representatives in some counties.…”

“…We did not analyze moose damage to forest regeneration and young stands, as this is a well-known issue in all countries with high numbers of animals [2,48,67,[85][86][87][88]. However, high numbers of moose pose a direct threat to humans, as their large size and long legs cause injuries or lethal consequences in wildlife-vehicle collisions [89].…”