Context

Pastoralism (extensive, outdoors livestock raising) and High Nature Value farming (extensive farming systems which bring significant biodiversity benefits) are important but threatened land use systems in Europe.  Compared with other land uses, they bring significant benefits for wildlife, and across Europe, they preserve important habitats and species. Often relationships between these types of land use and wildlife can be benign or mutually reinforcing. However, this is not to say that there are no challenges. 

Historically, both pastoralists and wildlife shared the same spaces, but by the late 19th century, European wildlife was greatly reduced as farming generally intensified. The 20th century saw the recovery of wild herbivores, aided by sustainable hunting and compromises among land users. With the increase in prey, large carnivores such as wolves, have returned naturally expanding back into some of their old range.  Some of these species may compete with pastoralist and HNV farming systems and cause significant damages e.g. damage to crops from wild boar or deer and depredation of livestock by wolves or bears. Their return has sparked polarised social conflicts and high-level political debates over how these species should be managed. 

Pastoralism and high nature value farming systems, face multiple challenges in terms of economic and social viability. Finding effective animal husbandry practices to deal with wildlife return represents an additional difficulty on top of many others. It is essential that dealing with this issue does not fall on one part of society only. 

The CoCo project focuses on the relationship between livestock husbandry practices and wildlife damage, aiming to integrate wildlife and pastoral management. It assesses stakeholder perceptions, explore governance structures, examine the potential of new technologies and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of various management scenarios. 

Objectives

The CoCo project brings together different kinds of knowledge—from science, traditional practices, and personal experiences—to help people and wildlife thrive side by side. The project believes that by tapping into the best knowledge available, we can drastically reduce wildlife-related issues, calm tensions, and find a balance that benefits both people and nature. The diverse European team, including a range of scientific partners and stakeholders, uses this collective expertise as a basis for developing policy recommendations and tools for practitioners. These support sustainable coexistence in shared multi-functional landscapes.

Activities

The CoCo project employs a variety of methods, including systematic reviews, field inspections, face-to-face interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and modelling.