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NEWS
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Prevention of Human-Bear Conflicts and Implementation of Community-Based Conservation Must Emphasize the Needs of Mountain Tribal Communities

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202408/27
  Animal rights organizations lodged a request for the wholesale ban of metal lasso snares (boar sling traps) with the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA) today (August 27). The FANCA said that through long-term monitoring, it can be seen that the distribution of Formosan black bears in national forests has been expanding year by year. In recent years, there have been several incidents of bears coming close to the periphery of the low-elevation mountain settlements in eastern Taiwan, and have been accidentally captured by metal lasso snares set for wildlife damage control by local residents. For the conservation of the Formosan black bear population and to prevent possible human-bear conflicts, the FANCA has been working to raise awareness on bear-friendly concepts in recent years. The agency has also launched a number of conservation promotion activities to encourage community residents to participate in conservation work, taking into account the conservation of wildlife, the sustainable use of natural resources, and the rights and interests of local residents.

  According to the FANCA, Formosan black bears are not endangered due to their well-protected habitats in the national forests, and the distribution of the bear populations has been gradually expanding in recent years. Long-term monitoring by the FANCA showed that the relative occurrence index of the bears has been on an upward trend since 2018, and the number of bears recorded in low-elevation mountains below 1,500 meters above sea level has also increased over the past two years. The Formosan black bears have even begun to appear in areas where they had not been recorded in the past.

  The FANCA statistics have shown that 64% of trapped bear events in the last two years were at elevations below 1,000 meters above sea level, with 18% occurring at elevations below 500 meters above sea level, which are basically the plain areas, while 71% of these events occurred on privately owned Indigenous Reserved Land, farmland or grazing lands outside of the national forests. The most recent bear trap incident occurred at the Taromak Tribal Community of Beinan County, Taitung. The bear was found alongside an industrial road at an elevation of only 589 meters above sea level near the community, demonstrating the gradual overlap of bear activity with the living areas of the mountain settlement residents.

  To avoid human-bear conflicts between bears that are gradually coming closer to the settlements and the local residents, the FANCA has been actively promoting the Payments for Ecosystem Services for Formosan black bears in recent years. Such services include proactive notification of invasion, community patrol and monitoring to help reduce residents’ negative impression caused by losses from bear disturbances. The agency has also taken reference from Japan to develop and produce improved hunting gear: the pedal diameter is smaller than 12cm, the wire has a diameter larger than 4cm, and it is equipped with a figure-eight swivel ring and a non-slip sleeve. The improved hunting gear can be used to prevent wildlife damage and can reduce accidental trapping of Formosan black bears and leopard cats. The Chiayi County Tsou Hunter Association set up infrared cameras to assist in field monitoring in June 2023. A camera filmed Formosan black bears coming in contact with the improved hunting gear without getting trapped, which proves that the improved hunting gears can indeed prevent the inadvertent capture of bears. In addition, so far, there have been no cases of endangered species being trapped by the improved hunting gear.

  To prevent people from accidentally capturing bears when they set out traps to control wildlife damage, and then hiding and destroying evidence for fear of being penalized, the FANCA is actively promoting the concept of “if you accidentally catch a bear and proactively notify us and help rescue the bear, you will be exempted from liability” with the aim of taking all possible actions to safeguard the life of each bear.

  In accordance with the spirit of Article 8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, national legislation should “respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.” The FANCA actively promotes the participation of mountain communities in conservation work. Through the implementation of natural resource investigations, forest patrols, and autonomous hunting management of indigenous peoples, communities surrounding forests can work together to protect forests and conserve wildlife, while utilizing natural resources in a sustainable manner, thus fulfilling the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of “participation of indigenous people and local communities in decision-making.”

  The FANCA emphasized that internationally, in countries such as Japan, only the use of steel-jaw traps is prohibited while rules for the use of lasso traps have been strengthened. In Australia and the United States, there are regulations on the use of lasso traps in different states and regions, and there is no wholesale ban on their use. The use of lasso traps by the residents of mountain settlements has a long history, and it is inevitable that the material used for lassos has change to metal following the development of technology. As it involves long-standing culture and habits, it is difficult to fully prohibit the use of lasso traps. Even if legislation is enacted to prohibit the use, the laws only look good on paper due to the secrecy behind the use of these traps, making it difficult to detect the perpetrators. This will also push away and alienate the mountain communities, who are just gaining confidence in the government, which is not conducive to the conservation of biodiversity. Instead, the public should be gradually guided to switch to the use of more environmentally-friendly hunting gear under the premise of a pre-established positive foundation, which should be incorporated into management, in order to allow people and nature to coexist in harmony.
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