LESSONS FROM C2C PILOT SITES

The C2C: Conflict to Coexistence approach has been piloted in Africa and Asia, across a range of sites that experience conflict situations of varying severity and complexity.

In Africa, pilot testing has been carried out in the Ruvuma landscape spanning from southern Tanzania to northern Mozambique, and in Ntokou Pikounda National Park in the Republic of the Congo, and in Asia in Thap Lan National Park in Thailand and in the Trong Gewog pilot site in Bhutan.

The lessons learned from these pilots have been used to further update the approach and methodology and continue to inform and improve the implementation of the C2C approach across a range of landscapes globally. The following are some lessons drawn from these pilots.

COMBINING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND C2C ASSESSMENT

In Trong Gewog in southern Bhutan, where farmers live alongside tigers, leopards, and bears, the C2C assessment was conducted in October 2023. A team of officials from the Department of Forests and Parks Services, WWF staff, and representatives of a civil society organisation (Taryana Foundation) carried out the interviews. In each of the village clusters, 40 to 90 community members and representatives of local associations and institutions were invited to a meeting, where they learned about the C2C approach and its co-design process intended to develop an integrated, holistic HWC management strategy in a participatory way.

The participants were asked to explain their views about their interactions with wildlife and the impact of those experiences. They were also encouraged to ask questions about the C2C process and to raise concerns. All information shared and issues raised were documented by the facilitators. The one-on-one interviews (C2C assessment) were started during these meetings, which took about three to four hours. Nine enumerators asked participants to answer the set of about 40 questions, and answers were directly entered into handheld devices via SMART Collect. The draft results of the C2C assessment became available in December 2023. After review and discussion, the assessment was shared with all stakeholder groups to kick off the co-design process (C2C Step 4).