What is this thing called WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT?
Hedmark University College Campus Evenstad
Norway
Tomas Willebrand Professor in Applied Ecology Swedish Hunters Association Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences
Wildlife species – not a precise definition
§ Game – wildlife that is hunted for sport (English) § More than species that are harvested § All wild birds and mammal § All wild mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians
§ Norway: But not marine mammals
Wildlife Management
§ Wildlife laws and management in Mongolia by Ginghis Kahn (1250 AD) § Hunting season § Winter feeding
North-America Norway/Sweden
Who is responsible?
§ State is responsible, also for practical management
§ Wildlife is owned by everybody
§ Professional wildlife biologists
§ Top-Down system § NGO’s?
§ State set principles § Landowner have hunting
rights (no one owns wildlife) § Fewer professional wildlife
biologists § Bottom-up system § Many NGO’s
Aldo Leopold, 1933
§ Game management and forestry grow natural species in an environment not greatly altered for the purpose in hand, relaying on partial control of a few factors to enhance the yield above what unguided nature would produce.
Aldo Leopold, 1933
§ Game management and forestry grow natural species in an environment not greatly altered for the purpose in hand, relaying on partial control of a few factors to enhance the yield above what unguided nature would produce.
Aldo Leopold, 1933
§ Game management and forestry grow natural species in an environment not greatly altered for the purpose in hand, relaying on partial control of a few factors to enhance the yield above what unguided nature would produce.
Aldo Leopold, 1933
§ Game management and forestry grow natural species in an environment not greatly altered for the purpose in hand, relaying on partial control of a few factors to enhance the yield above what unguided nature would produce.
Aldo Leopold, 1933
§ Their controls are barley visible; an observer, unless he was an expert, could see no difference between managed and unmanaged terrain.
Definitions
§ Game Management is the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use (A. Leopold)
§ Wildlife management is the human actions to reach a specified goal to either conserve, increase, harvest or limit wild populations. (DN, Norway)
§ Wildlife management attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best available science. (Wikipedia)
Population Management: the options
§ Increase § Decrease § Sustainable harvest § Monitoring – stewardship
Leve
l of c
ontro
l. R
esou
rce
use
Full control. Regulate species
Mitigation. Counteract human impact
Protection. Support natural balance
Conservation Ecology – same wine in a new bottle?
§ Living things in the environment § How human activities augment or impair § Maintaining or restoring habitats § Population concept not always useful § Support natural patterns in biodiversity
Controllability & Understanding
In theory – Different roles
§ Monitoring is the common denominator
§ Population trends are central § Index
§ Bag statistics § Pellet counts
§ Cost-efficient ?
WILDLIFEWILDLIFE
POLICYPOLICY
MANAGE
MENT
MANAGE
MENT
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
Mosaic of values awareness is needed
Hunters
Ornithologists Other Users
Where are you?
Cause and effectIncreasing certainty
Plain
bureaucracyInvestig
ation
Evaluatio
n
Negotiatio
nCONFLICT!
?
Des
ired
Goa
lIn
crea
sing
agr
eem
ent
