Paper short abstract:

The presentation explores two contrast cases of human-bear cohabitation in Bulgaria aiming to answer the question how to transform conflict into convivial coexistence.

Paper long abstract:

The presentation discussed the question how to transform human-wildlife relations from conflict to coexistence applying the framework of convivial conservation as a novel approach intended to transform conservation policy and practice. It analyzes factors that may contribute to promoting successful coexistence between humans and brown bears exploring two cases from the Rodopi mountains of Bulgaria evidencing different degrees of conflict and coexistence between humans and brown bears. Doing so, the presentation reveals the main factors that lead to rather successful coexistence in the first case (the region of Yagodina), as well as those characterizing the conflict, in the second (three settlements along Arda river). In this way, it contributes to the major discussions concerning how to transform human-wildlife conflict into convivial coexistence (Büscher and Fletcher, 2020), demonstrating how attention to the immediate circumstances of human-wildlife encounter in such efforts should be complemented by promotion of more inclusive, democratic forms of decision-making and egalitarian distribution of economic resources.