NEW PAPER OUT Meeting your ancestors: Sticks, stones and discord in Earth’s outposts

Naresh Kusi of HWP and Professor Joel Berger of Colorado State University, recently published a conservation note shedding light on a rarely discussed conflict. The paper concerns marginalized communities at Earth’s extremes losing domestic stock (such as domestic yaks) to wild ancestors (such as wild yaks), leading to hostility toward wildlife due to economic losses and personal injuries. It underscores the absence of justice and equity for affected humans despite IUCN recognition of biodiversity at a policy front. It also outlines solutions that demand substantial human capital for successful implementation. The HWP team is witnessing this challenge in the high Himalayas where wild yaks are attracted to the herds of domestic yaks at times with significant negative consequences for the herders.

Read the paper here.