Importance of context-specific community perspectives in human–wildlife coexistence: Evidence from Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Arockia E J Ferdin, Rajiv Pandey, Shyam Kumar Shah, Udit Chandra Aryal, Kumar Paudel, Abhinaya Pathak, Rinchen Zangmo, Babu Ram Lamichhane, Azlan Abas, Nagarajan Baskaran

Human–wildlife coexistence requires context-specific strategies that accommodate diverse community needs in landscapes where heterogeneous communities live in proximity to protected areas and wildlife. This study evaluates community priorities for eight coexistence strategies using importance-performance analysis across four management sectors of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. We documented a significant spatial variation among the management sectors (H = 34.638–243.425, all p < 0.001): Madi (Southern Sector) prioritized rapid response teams (12.5% of strategies classified as high priority), Sauraha (Eastern Sector) emphasized technology integration and community funding (25% as high priority), while Amaltari (Western Sector) focused on partnership diversification, integration of indigenous knowledge with science, and community funding (37.5% as high priority). In contrast, Kasara (Northern Sector) showed no clear preferences for specific strategies. Agriculture-dependent sectors demonstrated distinct priorities compared to tourism-dependent ones, with agriculture-dependent communities facing disproportionately higher conflict intensities. Community funding emerged as a shared priority only in tourism-dependent sectors. These findings demonstrate that uniform coexistence strategies are inadequate for spatially and socioeconomically heterogeneous protected areas. This study provides protected area managers globally with a sector-specific framework and evidence-based guidance for adapting interventions to local socioecological contexts, thereby enhancing both conservation effectiveness and community support.

Publication Conservation Science and Practice. 2026

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