Scientists demand the use of reliable scientific data to analyse conflicts between humans and large carnivores
Scientists from several institutions, including the Estación Biológica de Do?ana - CSIC , have published a letter in Science calling for European strategies on large carnivore management to be based on quality scientific assessments to guarantee conservation objectives.
This is the reaction of the scientific community to the statement made last September by the European Commission regarding conflicts between wolves and human activities. The European Commission claimed that wolves pose a danger to livestock and requested that anyone with any type of related data submit it as part of a review of the wolf ’s conservation status. This put the conservation science community on alert. Unvetted data was being requested instead of making use of scientific data instead of relying on the scientifically sound data on species conservation status regularly provided by each member state.
In response to this, the scientists propose a livestock depredation database based on the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), which represent a commitment to sharing of scientific data. The aim is to make the data easy to find, accessible and reusable and to organise them in a standardised way.
However, according to the letter, the situation is far from ideal when it comes to data on damage caused by large carnivores compiled by local, national or European administrations or responsible institutions. Data on livestock predated by large carnivores and derived economic costs as well as the economic subsidies received by the livestock sector are dispersed, difficult to obtain, not standardized and not quality-controlled.
The scientists alert that policies to reduce human-large carnivore conflicts urgently need scientific assessments of the effectiveness of different mitigation measures which are compatible with conservation targets. Such reliable assessments can only be conducted by implementing a coordinated and standardized European database with quality-controlled FAIR livestock predation data. Political decisions must base on scientific evidence, not on emotions.
Large carnivores play fundamental roles in ecosystems. Ecosystems inhabited by large carnivores function better and are more resilient. Increasing ecosystem resilience is a pillar of EU policy to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and preserving functional populations of large carnivores is a legal obligation for all EU countries.
Nuria Selva, Carlos Bautista, Alberto Fernández-Gil, Miguel de Gabriel Hernando, Alberto García-Rodríguez, Javier Naves, Javier Calzada, Manuel Díaz-Fernández, Vanessa Díaz-Vaquero, Jennifer A. leonard, Ana Morales-González, Lara Naves-Alegre, Mario Quevedo, Isabel Salado, Carles Vilà, Eloy Revilla. FAIR data would alleviate large carnivore conflict. SCIENCE. 23 Nov 2023. Vol 382, Issue 6673. pp. 893-894. DOI: 10.1126/science.adl6080