Working towards resolving goose-agricultural conflicts in North Norway

Summary

As the population of the Svalbard pink-footed goose has increased considerably over the last few decades conflicts with farmers have escalated, especially at stopover sites in spring in North Norway. This article presents results from a multidisciplinary study of a negotiation process between farmers and wildlife authorities, which led to an agricultural subsidy scheme to alleviate conflicts between agriculture and geese in the Vesterålen region. The efficiency of the subsidy scheme was assessed in terms of its conflict mitigation, reflected in a near discontinuation of scaring activities. For the farmers, the subsidy scheme provides funding that reduces the economic costs caused by the pink-footed geese, but the situation has been complicated by the increasing occurrence of another goose species, the barnacle goose. The article concludes that ‘sustaining a low level of conflict will require close monitoring, dialogue and adaptation of the subsidy scheme to cater for changes in goose population dynamics’. The article is published on the open-access publication website, PLOSone.

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