Let’s Save the Bear: A multispecies livelihoods approach to wildlife conservation and achieving the SDGs

Thomsen, Bastian; Thomsen, Jennifer; Cipollone, Mario; Coose, Sarah

doi:10.1080/26437015.2021.1881934

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…They present a transcultural development approach that advocates for the inclusion and preservation of cultural norms and rights of receiving cultures within and among the development process while critiquing institutions that become myopic in focus. Social entrepreneurship takes a triple bottom line approach to sustainable development as it balances economic profitability, environmental conservation, and social justice issues (Bohlmann et al, 2018;Thomsen et al, 2018;2021a;2021b). Extending the transcultural development approach to more equitably consider nonhumans' rights, welfare, and agency could aid in the effort to reduce anthropocentric sustainable development and promote an equitable multispecies livelihoods framework.…”

Section: Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wildlife ecotourism may advance biodiversity efforts, protect wildlife, and promote their welfare (Thomsen et al, 2021a). For example, one Costa Rican organization utilized WE to build ecological conservation networks that connect core habitat areas (Finegan et al, 2008), assist the recovery of declining species (Whitworth et al, 2018), design quality control programs for the restoration of riparian habitats and downstream estuaries (Fournier et al, 2019), design policy recommendations for forest conservation (Sierra & Russman, 2006), and build community wellbeing through indicators of economic, social, and environmental impact (Hunt et al, 2015).…”

Section: Key Findings Theme #3: Livelihoods: Wildlife Ecotourism and Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wildlife tourism has been championed by some for its potential to conserve species (Belicia & Islam, 2018), protect ecosystems (Lamb, 2019), and provide sustainable human livelihoods (Stone & Nyaupane, 2018). Critics of this type of tourism suggest that commodifying wildlife is overtly anthropocentric and centers on the positive economic returns for humans while ignoring the rights, agency, and welfare of nonhuman animals (Belicia & Islam, 2018;Burns, 2017;Cohen, 2019;Thomsen et al, 2021a). This is fundamentally evident in the application of the term wildlife tourism, as it broadly encompasses all tourism related to wildlife, including consumptive practices (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, existing frameworks and discourse about biodiversity conservation, tourism, development, and nonhuman species remain anthropocentric. Humans often speak of nonhuman animal species in the abstract and do not focus on the rights, agency, and welfare of individual nonhumans (Thomsen et al, 2021a;Thomsen, in press). Cohen (2019) states that posthumanism is essentially absent from tourism scholarship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we respond to Cohen's call for a posthumanism approach to tourism to eliminate the "animal-human" divide, by contributing a posthumanist, subaltern, multispecies livelihoods framework (see below). Subaltern refers to marginalized groups (e.g., racial and ethnic minorities, women, indigenous, nonhuman animals) that are subservient to another group in terms of power (Mitchell, 2002;Spivak, 1988;Thomsen et al, 2021a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multispecies livelihoods: a posthumanist approach to wildlife ecotourism that promotes animal ethics

Thomsen

Copeland

et al. 2021

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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Research on animal ethics in tourism has gained traction but posthumanist approaches to wildlife (eco)tourism remain sparse. There has never been a more urgent need to redress this paucity in theory and practice. More than 60% of the world's wildlife has died-off in the last 50 years, 100 million-plus nonhuman animals are used for entertainment in wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs), more than one billion "wildlife" live in captivity, and some scholars argue that earth has entered its sixth mass extinction event known as the Anthropocene. This paper presents a posthumanist multispecies livelihoods framework (MLF) based on an applied ethnographic study of 47 wildlife ecotourism (WE) operators and wildlife researchers in protected area WTAs across four countries. Like any framework, it is a snapshot of the authors' thinking at a particular time and must be improved upon. The MLF does not purport to solve the negative treatment of nonhumans that can occur in tourism settings, but rather responds to calls in the tourism literature to acknowledge our effects on other species and advocates for equitable human-nonhuman livelihoods. This paper argues that we have a moral responsibility to nonhumans and the environment, and the authors hope to generate reflexive discourse concerning the role tourism can play in redressing the ecological crisis and improving the treatment of individual nonhumans to foster wildlife-human coexistence.

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Section: Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Findings Theme #3: Livelihoods: Wildlife Ecotourism and Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Multispecies livelihoods: a posthumanist approach to wildlife ecotourism that promotes animal ethics

Thomsen

Copeland

et al. 2021

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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Isotopic signature in isolated south-western populations of European brown bear (Ursus arctos)

et al. 2022

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Stable isotope analysis of animal tissue samples is increasingly used to study the trophic ecology of target species. The isotopic signatures respond to the type of diet, but also to the environmental conditions of their habitat. In the case of omnivorous, seasonal or opportunistic feeding species, the interpretation of isotopic values is more complex, as it is largely determined by food selection, either due to individual choice or because of availability. We analysed C and N isotopes in brown bear (Ursus arctos) hair from four isolated populations of south-western Europe (Cantabrian, Pyrenees, Central Apennines and Alpine) accounting for the geographical and climatic differences among the four areas. We found inter-population differences in isotopic signatures that cannot be attributed to climatic differences alone, indicating that at least some bears from relatively higher altitude populations experiencing higher precipitation (Pyrenees) show a greater consumption of animal foods than those from lower altitudes (Cantabrian and Apennines). The quantification of isotopic niche space using Layman’s metrics identified significant similarities between the Cantabrian and Central Apennine samples that markedly differ from the Pyrenean and Alpine. Our study provides a baseline to allow further comparisons in isotopic niche spaces in a broad ranged omnivorous mammal, whose European distribution requires further conservation attention especially for southern isolated populations.

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Posthumanist Pluralities: Advocating for nonhuman species’ rights, agency, and welfare in ecosystem governance

Thomsen

Cousins

Copeland

et al. 2022

Advances in Ecological Research

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Let’s Save the Bear: A multispecies livelihoods approach to wildlife conservation and achieving the SDGs

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Multispecies livelihoods: a posthumanist approach to wildlife ecotourism that promotes animal ethics

Multispecies livelihoods: a posthumanist approach to wildlife ecotourism that promotes animal ethics

Isotopic signature in isolated south-western populations of European brown bear (Ursus arctos)

Posthumanist Pluralities: Advocating for nonhuman species’ rights, agency, and welfare in ecosystem governance

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