Exploring Community-led Mitigation Strategies to Prevent Carnivore-Herder Conflict in the Western US and Humla, Nepal

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Sapana Lohani

Project Description

W&M students will support pastoralist communities in Humla Nepal with the implementation of human-bear conflict mitigation strategies by documenting lessons learned and impacts of mitigation strategies used in the Western USA that could be translated to Humla.

Human-bear conflict has negative impacts on the environment and the livelihoods of pastoralist communities globally. Humla is a remote region of northwest Nepal that supports unique biodiversity and cultural diversity, but the coexistence of herding livelihoods and carnivores is being threatened by changes in climate, high-elevation rangeland ecosystems and pasture resources, and shifting herder livelihoods.

The Himalayan black bear is an ecologically important species. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list (an international framework for evaluating species conservation status) due to human-bear conflicts across the Himalayan mountains. Local herder communities have listed black bears as one of the most problematic species causing livestock, and occasionally human, mortalities (Lama, 2020). Human-bear conflicts are compounded by shifting climate, ecological changes, shifts in agriculture, deforestation, and bear habitat use.  There is an urgent need to understand the drivers of these conflicts and trusted mitigation strategies needed to ensure the persistence of bear populations and herder livelihoods.                     

As part of a long-term community-led research and conservation strategy led by Ukali, a team of W&M and Nepali students will explore bear-human conflict mitigation strategies used in the Western USA to support the communities of Humla to identify mitigation strategies they would like to implement. A team of students will meet with ranching communities, federal and state agencies, and conservation NGOs in Colorado and Montana to learn about best practices and lessons learned for mitigating human-bear conflict and will support community surveys in Humla regarding their goals related to mitigation strategies. Specifically, the students will:

1. Obtain prior informed consent from local communities in coordination and collaboration with the local government and gather information on local indigenous conflict prevention strategies, assess their effectiveness, and for the conflict mitigation pilot study.
2. Explore conflict mitigation measures used in other areas (e.g. Montana, Colorado) and document lessons learned and best practices for human-bear conflict that may be relevant to the communities of Humla. 
3. Use field and satellite data to explore bear population dynamics, habitat use, and conflict hot spots

Number of Students

2

Prerequisites and Required Skills:

Experience with social science research methods is a plus.

Travel Required

W&M students will travel to Montana and Colorado for about a month over the summer to meet with organizations that specialist in HWC. This will involve camping and hiking in variable terrain.

Project ID - Format

25-011-25 - CRP Year