Develop livelihood and conflict-mitigation alternatives with communities

Work with affected communities to identify the specific costs and risks that drive hunting, retaliation or resistance to conservation. Responses may include livestock or crop protection, safer practices, rapid incident response, conditional compensation, alternative income or benefit-sharing tied to measurable coexistence outcomes.

The IUCN SSC Guidelines on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence emphasize that conflict is social as well as biological and requires inclusive, context-specific processes. Programs should avoid assuming that a single payment or technical device will resolve disputes over rights, safety, land or trust.

Success should be measured through both animal mortality and human outcomes such as losses, safety, participation and perceived fairness.