The Future of Human-Carnivore Coexistence in Europe - Pathways to Coexistence Between Wolves and Rural Communities in Spain

Large carnivore populations are expanding across Europe, while popular support for the process continues to grow. This development has been hailed as a hopeful sign for wildlife recovery, aligning with the ambition of the UN 2030 Framework to be “living in harmony with nature by 2050”. However, reintegrating carnivores in multi-use landscapes is challenging, especially where there are disagreements about their belonging, and where costs and benefits of their presence are incurred at different spatial scales. Despite these challenges, few have studied what fosters and perpetuates durable coexistence, or how to work proactively with communities facing the return carnivores. This thesis addresses this gap through a cross-case synthesis of communities at different states of wolf expansion in Spain: one known for long-established coexistence, one where wolves have returned in recent decades and one where they are expected to return imminently. Adopting a qualitative research design and using a diverse methodological toolkit, the thesis explores the social and ecological conditions which help or hinder adaptation to wolves within each community. Each of its empirical chapters focuses on a specific element of coexistence: the underpinnings of established coexistence; the lessons about adaptive needs and capacities from each state of wolf presence; and the assumptions and priorities which influence how coexistence is understood and governed.
The thesis demonstrates that functional and neutral relationships have been overlooked by a policy-reality that has remained focussed on addressing conflicts. It also finds that governing institutions in Spain have a retroactive approach to wolf expansion: intervening once wolves have already caused damage and/or social disagreement. It identifies a range of socio-economic vulnerabilities which undermine the willingness and capacity of communities to adapt to wolves, including economic precarity, scrub encroachment and loss of social services. Finally, it identifies power-knowledge hierarchies within Spanish and European conservation institutions which inhibit inclusive governance approaches. These issues perpetuate an institutional focus on disciplining conduct and mitigating wolf impacts, rather than addressing the underlying drivers of conflicts or building on successful initiatives and practices. Through these findings, the thesis advances knowledge on the elements of legitimate and dynamic governance of wildlife recovery in the Anthropocene, and the barriers which prevent just transformation to positive and durable coexistence.