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Invasive species and Compassionate Conservation: Valuable insights from four workshops with stakeholders
Compassionate Conservation seeks to make compassion the basis of biodiversity conservation, applying individual animal welfare to wildlife populations. This movement is important to consider, particularly regarding Invasive species. Certainly, invasive species can negatively impact local biodiversity. However, considering Compassionate Conservation, one can ask whether invasive species’ welfare can be taken into account. Relatedly, it’s vital to understand to what extent the methods of Compassionate Conservationists are broadly considered. This project uses four workshops (36 participants) conducted in 2020/2021, with individuals involved in biology and/or environmentalism and/or sustainability. Participants were given a general scenario of invasive species ravaging local biodiversity. While not told to think like Compassionate Conservationists, they were told to focus on “biocentric” perspectives, and then discuss possible effective solutions to invasive species. Thematic analysis of discussions, based on notetakers, brought out potential solutions. Common ones included introducing native predators and relocation. To see whether there is overlap with solutions suggested by Compassionate Conservationists and advocates, key texts regarding Compassionate Conservation and invasive species were consulted. Databases like Web of Science were utilized, with thematic analyses conducted. There was general overlap in methods suggested by workshop participants and Compassionate Conservationists. Culling, however, was a common workshop theme but rarely advocated by Compassionate Conservation. Ultimately, results show that stakeholders, even beyond Compassionate Conservationists, can support biocentric-centered solutions to invasive species, even if some conflicts remain.
