Example project (2023 - present):

Transforming the Conversation on Sustainable Use of Africa’s Elephants

A collaboration between the Northern Arizona University and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African Elephant Specialist Group: Sustainable Use Subgroup.

Long-standing debates over the management and the acceptability of the sustainable use of Africa’s Elephants has undermined collaboration for conservation of elephants and their habitats on the continent, as well globally. Central to this debate, are disagreements over the risks versus the benefits of sustainable use. Differences in values over the moral acceptability of different forms of sustainable use complicate decision-making processes. Due to the differences in moral values, the debate over sustainable use of Elephants cannot be solved with science alone. Instead, scientific evidence needs to be incorporated in a process together moral values, attitudes and perspectives, and how different individuals and stakeholders perceive actions will lead to outcomes and the associated inherent assumptions.

To date, little research has been done to integrate morals and values with scientific evidence to better understand potential options for policy makers seeking to navigate this contentious issue. Filling such an evidence gap would have important implications for both theory and practice of elephant conservation. To move forward, a collaboration was forged with the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group: Sustainable Use Subgroup. This subgroup has a mandate to Provide an evidence base for navigating and making progress on a collective approach to sustainable use of African elephants.

We are engaging in a policy oriented process which seeks to:

• ·         Pilot a collaborative process that could be used in the future to help stakeholders collaborate around contentious conservation issues and iconic species.

• ·         Identify areas of common ground that help us determine priorities and next steps for this group and elephant conservation.

• ·         Highlight evidence gaps and gain a better understanding of how and where moral values interact with the evidence.

The process has begun by engaging with experts with experience working in the various African Elephant range states. We will seek to integrate expert and community perspectives towards informed engagement with policy-makers and the broader conservation community.

The process conceptualization and design is based on a strong body of literature demonstrating the valuing of mental model investigations in environmental and conservation contexts, and the need for greater synthesis of the risks and benefits of sustainable use of African Elephants.