Workshop on Bison and Human Interaction

Bison and Human Interaction, Workshop with Field-excursion

Kraansvlak, Overveen, The Netherlands, 13 October 2009

In spring 2007 the PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland started with a pilot project with European bison (wisent) on the 200 ha sand dune area Kraansvlak, a closed-off area near the Kennemer Dunes (near Overveen / Haarlem), accompanied by scientific research. It is a cooperative project of PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland, Stichting Duinbehoud, ARK and Stichting Kritisch Bosbeheer (http://www.wisenten.nl/wisenten/home).

Its aim is to acquire knowledge and experience with bison in the Dutch situation, the food strategy and the effects of the bison on the sand dune landscape, dune dynamics and dune vegetation. Besides the interaction between wisent and landscape, also the co-existence with other grazers as well as human visitors is being studied. After an acclimatization period, during which the animals could only be watched from a viewpoint or through the fencing, excursions into the area will be organized. The project will be evaluated after 5 years.

Bison are important as flagship species for example for ecological corridor projects, establishment of protected area as well as for re-wilding projects. People attitudes towards re-introduction and protection of large mammals are not always positive, especially in areas where species have become extinct a long time ago. Human Dimension has become an important science to address this issue in a scientific way.

On 13 October 2009 a workshop on the Human Bison relation has been held to share the experiences. The workshop was organised by the Large Herbivore Foundation (LHF), on invitation and in co-operation with PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland (Provincial drinkwater company for the province of North-Holland). A selected group of experts, who are - in a practical way - directly involved with new pilots in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries attended.

Room was given to discussions in the form of a workshop, to draw some outlines for the following phase; bison re-introduction in the Netherlands. We consider a follow-up next year for the policy makers and politicians.

The workshop report by Stephen Decker can be found at the bottom of this page.

Photos: Jaap Rouwenhorst

Caroline Straver made for LHF a whole series of photos, please click here for the presentation in Picasa.

Workshop program

We could not upload all presentations because of the size, please don't hesitate to ask for it.

1. Human dimension and large herbivores, Stephen Decker, Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Ontario, Canada

How can the human dimension approach help the nature manager of wild nature, and what are the experiences with HD, especially large herbivores in North America and Kraansvlak and other relevant projects?
Mental change in nature conservation and human attitude, fear, other nature, change in human use of the area.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121545125/abstract

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: Human dimension and large herbivore

2. Experiences form abroad, Uwe Lindner, Taurus Naturentwicklung e.V.; Wittgenstein-Berleburg'sche Rentkammer

What are the experiences and perspectives for bison in Germany, Rothaargebirge?
How did HD help the process?http://www.wisente-rothaargebirge.de/pdf/lecture/7-Tommy%20Svensson.pdf
What where the main reasons why the project can now be implemente

http://www.intersport.de/25jahreoutdoor/static/uploads/137/Projektbeschreibung.pdf

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: Taurus Naturentwicklung

3. Experiences and perspectives for bison in Germany near cities, Peter Nitschke, Sielmanns Naturlandschaft Döberitzer Heide

Example of the Doberitzer heide: how does the public encounter the bison? How will they encounter the bison in the future?

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION: Sielmanns Naturlandschaft Döberitzer Heide

4. Experiences from Sweden, Eriksberg, Tommy Svensson, Wildgehege Eriksberg, Schweden

People - bison interactions; why is bison important for Eriksberg?
How can people see the bison in Eriksberg? How close can they get to the bison? Any negative encounters?

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION:Bison re-introduction in Slowakia

5. Bison re-introduction in Slowakia, Michal Adamec - State Nature Conservancy. presented by Joep van de Vlasakker

The bison re-introduction started in 2003 was an ecological success.
The project has come to a hold due to objections from hunters and farmers.
HD and targeted communication in combination with international support can help the further implementation of the re-introduction.

6. How experiences in Western Europe and Eastern Europe can benefit from each other, Joep van de Vlasakker, LHF, Nature Conservation Manager

With our experiments in Europe we can demonstrate how to develop the bison' natural role.
Examples of conflicts between people and bison.
http://www.largeherbivore.org/species/

7. HD and bison in the Kraansvlak, Piet Veel, sector manager nature & recreation, PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland

Experiences so far with human attitudes,
behaviour of bison towards humans,
future plans for public access/HD

8. Afternoon workshop, Stephen Decker & Joep van de Vlasakker

Questions discussed: how to make it happen:

What arguments did you met in your situation against bison?
What do you think will be the negative arguments against free ranging bison in the Netherlands?
What target groups do we need to address?
How to find out what the real arguments/feelings are in the Netherlands against bison?
How to change negative feelings into positive feelings ?
Which HD tools do we need for reintroduction under Dutch circumstances?
What communication tools/techniques do we need?

Photo: Leo Linnartz

Experiences on the Human Dimensions (HD) of large herbivore restoration and management

Summarised report by Stephen Decker

Lecturer Sustainable Resource Management, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Read the full report.

Focus on Human Dimensions

On October 13^th, 2009 The PWN and the Large Herbivore Foundation (LHF) hosted the first workshop in a number of years to focus on the Human Dimensions (HD) of large herbivore restoration and management. The workshop was held in Overveen, the Netherlands at the edge of the Kraansvlak dunes and was attended by more than 30 people from Western European countries and two Canadians. The workshop began with introductions and welcomes by Hans Kampf (the new director of the LHF) and Piet Veel (director of the PWN) which were followed by interesting and informative presentations by researchers and project managers from Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Workshop participants were also treated to an excursion into the nearby Kraansvlak reserve where they were able to see the features of the reserve area, view the bison herd and network with other workshop participants. Following the excursion participants took part in break-out sessions where they worked together to identify HD-related challenges and opportunities in the area of European bison management and restoration.

Human Dimensions and Wildlife Management

For those unfamiliar with the field of HDWM Stephen Decker began the workshop presentations with an explanation of the field and its importance for large herbivore restoration and management. Stephen explained that HDWM is a field of study which seeks to gather, understand and explain the attitudes, beliefs, concerns, and opinions of stakeholders and members of the public who are concerned about or affected by wildlife management efforts. Such information is essential for wildlife managers and nature conservationists because failing to understand and address the concerns of the public and interest groups can result in unsupported decisions, which may contribute to public opposition to nature and wildlife conservation efforts. The Overveen workshop allowed participants to begin to identify, explore and discuss such HD challenges as they relate to the management and restoration of European bison in Western European countries and in the Netherlands in particular.

Lists of the biggest challenges

After making an excursion into the Kraanvslak reserve workshop participants worked together in small groups to compile lists of the biggest challenges facing bison restoration and management efforts in the Netherlands. This exercise produced an extensive list of approximately 30 challenges. Each group then presented their list of challenges to the entire group of participants for discussion and evaluation. Workshop participants then cast votes to indicate which of these challenges presented the largest roadblock or barrier for bison restoration and management in the Netherlands. Despite having initially identified both a large diversity and a large number of challenges, participants very clearly identified just three challenges out of 30 as being the most important issues to address. The three most important challenges identified by workshop participants are as follows:

Need to develop more pilot projects (like the Kraansvlak) to expose the public to bison, educate people about bison behaviour and ecology and conduct scientific research on bison behaviour and ecology.
Need for bigger wilderness areas/reserves to support ecosystem functions, allow for species migrations, buffer against the effects of global climate changes and support/enhance species diversity.
Need to reduce fear of bison. Public safety fears were identified by several workshop participants as important issues in their project areas. Farmers' concerns regarding disease transfer and crop damage were also identified as significant issues that need to be addressed.

20 most important challenges

After some discussion and debate regarding these central challenges workshop participants were again divided into groups and asked to identify possible solutions to these challenges. This exercise produced a rich list of more than 20 possible solutions to these most important challenges. The challenges and associated solutions identified in Overveen have been recorded and are currently being compiled to form the basis of LHF efforts relating to bison restoration and management in the coming months. The LHF is prepared to organizing one or more follow-up HD workshop, if possible during fall 2010 to discuss progress on addressing the challenges and solutions identified in Overveen this past October in Western and Central Europe; funds have to be found.

The LHF and PWN sincerely appreciate the cooperation and hard work of workshop participants and look forward to continued cooperation with and assistance from network participants in the coming months as we move forward with efforts to address the challenges identified.

By all accounts the Overveen workshop was both enjoyable and productive.

We look forward to future discussions, suggestions and ideas about this subject.