Eliciting Community‐preferred Policy Alternatives for Achieving Workable Coexistence in a Human‐dominated Landscape: Insights from Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Human-wildlife conflict is a global issue that poses a major threat to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Wildlife adapted to human-modified landscapes in developing countries can threaten the safety and livelihood of local communities. In such landscapes, where people and wildlife compete for resources, community involvement is promoted to achieve workable coexistence. We used a choice experiment methodology approach to identify community-preferred policy alternatives in Chitwan National Park in south-central Nepal. The results indicated that conflicts between the local community and wildlife are on the rise, crop damage being the highest form of damage and most perceived compensation and fencing as conflict-mitigation tools. The choice experiment showed that residents have a positive preference for enhancing livelihood diversification skills, cultivating buffer crops, promoting alternative livelihoods, and strengthening rapid response teams. We identified concerned mitigators who are younger age group, encountered and concurred that HWC is increasing, and agreed that fencing and compensation are conflict-mitigation tools. We designed scenario planning using community-preferred policy alternatives to assist the park management. This is the first-choice experiment study to design an evaluation framework under community resilience perspectives to achieve workable coexistence. Our study has potential implications for promoting coexistence in a human-dominated landscape. Our study investigates human-wildlife conflict and workable coexistence in Chitwan National Park, Nepal, using a choice methodology approach. We found that conflicts between the local community and wildlife are increasing, with crop damage being the most significant issue. Residents expressed a preference for livelihood diversification, buffer crops, alternative livelihoods, and rapid response teams. By identifying concerned mitigators and utilizing scenario planning, our study offers insights into conflict mitigation and presents an evaluation framework for achieving coexistence in a human-dominated landscape, with potential implications for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.image