Living with Wildlife: How Relational Values and Care Ethics Shape Conservation Action

A relational framework for conservation emerges, demonstrating that explicitly incorporating relational values and care ethics can significantly enhance human-wildlife coexistence. This study, co-produced with Indigenous communities and other research partners, reveals distinct stewardship positions—ranging from transformative to adaptive or sustainability-focused—that reflect diverse visions of human-wildlife interactions. By leveraging transdisciplinary methodologies, including participatory workshops and focus group discussions, the research highlights the potential for such frameworks to improve conservation legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness in addressing social-ecological complexity. The findings underscore the importance of context-sensitive, inclusive approaches that recognize and integrate the diversity of human-nature relationships.

PEDARROS, E., Fritz, H., Hutchinson, A., Louw, C., Parès, N., Pienaar, D., Schwartz, K., & Guerbois, C. (2025). Living with Wildlife: How Relational Values and Care Ethics Shape Conservation Action. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8gqut_v1