What Does the Landowner Think? - A landowner survey about red deer management along the west coast of Norway

To know the degree of stakeholders’ agreement, or opposition to policies, can be of great\nimportance for successful management. Simultaneously, there is a need for knowledge that\ncombine wildlife and social interactions. In the management of ungulates in Norway, the\nlandowner is a main stakeholder because of their hunting rights to their property. They are\noften actively involved in the practical aspects of hunting and define the aims of perennial\nmanagement plans. Their thoughts, interests and commitment can therefore be key elements\nto functioning wildlife management. There are few studies addressing ungulate management\nbased on social aspects in Scandinavia. We designed a web-based questionnaire for\nlandowners in five counties along the west coast of Norway. Through this thesis, we wanted\nto explore landowner’s different opinions and attitudes surrounding the present management\nof red deer (Cervus elaphus). An important focus was to examine the state of satisfaction and\ncooperation within various management units. Further, we were especially interested to\ninvestigate which improvements the landowner think are necessary in order to achieve a better\ndeer management and how any of these changes are considered appropriate.\nThis thesis shows a general overview of landowners’ attitudes towards red deer management.\nOur main findings indicate that landowners, in general, are satisfied with current practices.\nThe degree of satisfaction with organizations and cooperation of red deer management were\nhighest in local management units and decreased with the spatial scale. Landowners disagree\nthat increased size of local management unit (vald) is a solution to improve current\nmanagement. Despite this, we did find a correlation between proportions satisfied and size of\nlocal management units, where landowners involved in large valds were most satisfied.\nCooperation is something that landowners perceive as preferable to achieve management\nobjectives, and these views are not only limited to self-centred interests, but also considered\nin a larger perspective. They tolerate a certain browsing damage on pastures up to a threshold\nvalue, simultaneously an increased quota would affect the degree of satisfaction. Although\nlarger areas are appropriate in a management perspective considering migratory red deer,\nlandowners’ ability to interact over equivalent areas can be a challenge.