Why we need to listen to farmers’ perspectives on lynx and wolf reintroductions

Whether in Monaghan or Malawi, Navan or Nepal, we should listen to and take seriously the perspectives of those who make their living from the land says environmental social scientist, Dr Jonny Hanson

Dr Jonny Hanson in the Annapurna region of Nepal. Picture: Abinash Lama

Growing up in rural Monaghan in the 1990s, there was one thing that I wanted to be more than any other — a wildlife conservationist.

Then, in 1999, my family and I moved to Malawi, in southern Africa. Suddenly, the animals that had roamed my imagination became the species that lived in the country — and sometimes the city — that I now called home.

But amidst my excitement, I began to become aware that not everyone shared my unbridled enthusiasm for these creatures. For communities who relied on the river Shire for washing clothes, for farmers tending their maize crops or for herders with their livestock, crocodiles, elephants and leopards were a risk to their livelihoods and, sometimes, to their lives. The wildlife was the same but our perspectives were different. And our perspectives depended, in large part, on how close we lived to the land.

Dr Jonny Hanson checking on sheep in a valley in Switzerland where wolves are returning. Picture: Sarah Zippert 

Fast forward over two decades. I was recently back in Nepal, where I’ve been working on snow leopard conservation for more than 10 years, supporting the work of Nepali colleagues and the Snow Leopard Conservancy. First through research, and, more recently, by making a Northern Ireland Screen-funded short film, I’ve sought to understand the same complex interactions between this species and its human neighbours as I encountered in Malawi.

For most of us, including me, the snow leopard is the semi-mythic ghost of the mountains: it stills our hearts as it moves majestically across our TV screens.

For communities losing livestock to the animal, including the hundred of farmers my colleagues and I have interviewed over the years, it can be a real nuisance.

The snow leopard is the same but our perspectives are different. And how close we live to the land strongly shapes these points-of-view.

Dr Jonny Hanson checking camera traps for wolf sightings in France. Image credit: Rob Howe

For a long time in Ireland, we’ve been able to outsource these nuanced relationships with these complex creatures to David Attenborough and National Geographic. No longer. As lynx, wolves and bears return to many parts of western Europe that they previously inhabited, the debate about their potential return to Ireland and Britain is gathering pace. Driven mainly by the case for the role they could play in restoring ecosystems, the likelihood of these proposals becoming reality is very closely linked to their body size.

Unsurprisingly, lynx — about the size of a springer spaniel — are the least risky and least controversial option. In Britain, the process is further along, with current consultations about lynx reintroductions in England and Scotland the latest of several such proposals over the last decade.

Spanish or Iberian lynx in the Donana National Park in Andalucia, Spain. Picture: Fritz Vollmar/WWF/PA Wire

In Ireland, the almost total absence of evidence of lynx inhabiting our island leaves an emphatic question mark hanging over their potential return.

But irrespective of the species, the process should be the same, in my opinion: it should start with those living closest to the land. In particular, we need to listen to farmers’ perspectives on lynx and wolf reintroductions. Taken aback by the almost total absence of consultation with livestock- and land-owners in Ireland or Britain on this important issue, I set out to consider them. Funded by a (UK) Nuffield Farming scholarship, I interviewed the five main farming unions across both countries, as well as two key livestock organisations and, for balance, three rewilding groups. I also conducted more than 40 interviews and visits with farmers, rewilders, officials, scientists, hunters and entrepreneurs across Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and the USA, seeking insights on how coexistence between livestock farming and large carnivore conservation could be managed and governed when these species return to a landscape.

Iberian lynx. Picture: O.A. Parques Nacionales @oapngob

My report on the topic has just been published. In short, just like my experiences in Malawi and Nepal, perspectives varied wildly.

• First, context. The political and economic uncertainty of post-Brexit Ireland, Britain and Europe, including priorities and funding of agri-environmental schemes, defined much of the conversation. So too did a wariness among farmers of both governments’ and NGOs’ roles in any reintroduction process. The real and perceived suitability of our modern landscapes, in terms of both space and food, for large carnivores was hotly contested. But the likely systemic changes to upland areas, especially reforestation, in the coming decades was widely discussed.
• Second, management. There are a suite of tools available to manage coexistence between large carnivore conservation and livestock farming, including deterrence (e.g. fences, livestock guarding animals, shepherding), finance (e.g. compensation and insurance schemes), force (e.g. hazing, lethal control) and enterprise (e.g. tourism, certification) options. The report’s five cases studies, from western Europe and North America, explored these approaches in some detail. These methods can work but their implementation is often complex, contested and costly. And there was limited enthusiasm for them among Irish and British farmers. Logistical, ethical and economic concerns were all discussed.
• Governance was the third element of our conversations and the only one where a significant sliver of common ground between farmers and rewilders emerged — namely that governance is critical to any reintroduction proposals. This included things likes reintroduction guidelines and consultations with farmers and landowners. Multi-perspective working groups, like Lynx to Scotland's Lynx Focus Group, were also cited as good examples.

But after all of these discussions where does this leave us in relation to potential large carnivore reintroductions to Ireland?

Dr Jonny Hanson above Lander, Wyoming. Picture: Jaden Bales 

Firstly, there are gaping holes in the knowledge base that need to be filled. The single cost-benefit analysis conducted to date on lynx reintroductions to England, for example, did not factor in the costs of training and equipping farmers to adapt their livestock husbandry practices to deter lynx. These blanks in the spreadsheet need to be filled in. Secondly, reintroductions of any sort tend to be dominated by conservationists trained in the natural sciences, and these skills form an important part of the process. But equally, it not more, important, especially with species like these, are issues of human history, behaviour and, yes, perspective. Experts in these areas need much greater representation on reintroduction panels and working groups. Thirdly, experts alone should not decide this issue. For decisions as controversial and momentous as these, broad popular support is needed, including and especially in rural areas. Our recent history of using citizens’ assemblies to consider delicate and contentious topics may point to one possible way forward.

Our perspectives on the potential reintroduction of lynx, wolves or bears to Ireland are likely to be influenced, in large part, by how close we live to the land. Whether in Monaghan or Malawi, Navan or Nepal, we should listen to and take seriously the perspectives of those who make their living from it.

• Dr Jonny Hanson is an environmental social scientist at Queen’s University Belfast, an Associate of the Snow Leopard Conservancy and a former community farmer. His first book Coexistence: learning to live with lynx, wolves and bears will be published by Pelagic in early 2025.
• jonnyhanson.com
• @jonnyhhanson