Understanding local pig hunter values and practices as a means toward co-management of feral pigs (Sus scrofa; pua'a) in the Hawaiian Islands

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Copyright © 2023 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Open Access. CC -BY 4.0 C&C Luat-Hu`eu, K. K., M. Blaich Vaughan, and M. R. Price. 2023. Understanding local pig hunter values and practices as a means L J toward co -management of feral pigs (Sus scrofa; pua'a) in the Hawaiian Islands. Ecology and Society 28(2):32. htf f� // t,/i0.. 7. E`^i- 4 3679- 280 237 Research, part of a Special Feature on Collaborative Vq n� �rnent, Environmental :...0 oreti:.Y. 'n' ,,, and ` US i.in ale I velihood;s. Understanding local pig hunter values and practices as a means toward co - management of feral pigs (Sus scrofa; pua' a) in the Hawaiian Islands %iyaw K......juat H0 c a,Mc/anih8ch flauglan ""' and Melissa I'ri I %oP , ABSTRACT. Differing values between communities and government resource managers may lead to conflict, particularly when community members are not involved in decision making. Increasingly, co -management arrangements have become an important tool to increase local capacity for resource management, increase trust between diverse community groups, and foster effective stewardship. However, co -management depends upon collaboration between users and managers and the ability to understand relationships between a given resource and those who use it, even when these communities are often viewed as contravening conservation efforts. Invasive species, such as feral pigs (Sus scrofa), present particular management challenges because they damage island ecosystems but are also integral to community life ways and food systems. Based on interviews with local pig hunters in the Hawaiian Islands, we explored the social -cultural values and practices of local pig hunters, their reasons for hunting, and possibilities for greater collaboration in feral pig management. Results highlight the importance of hunting for both food and other forms of well-being and cultural perpetuation, along with opportunities for (1) expanding mechanisms of access to improve hunting opportunities for invasive species; (2) integrating rights and responsibilities to meet management objectives; and (3) improving communication to enhance collaborative arrangements. Considering the context of managing community use of an ecologically detrimental invasive species, this study offers insights to guide co -management partnerships with community groups that are sometimes perceived as opposed to invasive species control efforts. Key Words: access; collaboration; community engagement; feral pigs; hunting; natural resource management INTRODUCTION Natural resource management conflict is often rooted in differing values amongst government agencies and local communities, particularly when that resource is an invasive species. For example, community members may value invasive species for food and recreation, even as these species are detrimental to native species and ecosystems, thus conflicting with other cultural values such as the use of medicinal plants (Crowley et al. 2017, Shack4eton et al. 2019). Management conflicts with invasive species are exacerbated when local communities who rely upon and manage those species are not included in agency planning and conservation efforts (Smith et al. 1999, Schuett et al. 2001). To improve natural resource management outcomes, natural resource managers (e.g., forestry and wildlife managers) and communities using a given resource may engage in co - management arrangements (Schuett et al. 2001, Folke et al. 2005, Berkes 2009). Co -management is "the sharing of power and responsibilities between the government and local resource users" (Berkes et al. 1991:12). However, co -management arrangements can take a variety of forms, and include a wide spectrum of power sharing (Pomeroy and Berkes 1997). Co -management outcomes may lead to increased capacity at the local level (e.g., resource users) to manage their own resources, as well as increased trust between government agencies and community members (local resource users; Plummer and Fitzgibbon 2004), for example in local stewardship of fisheries (Pinkerton 1999). Selected co - management agreements between Indigenous groups and governments have been shown to address conflicts in natural resource management (Castro and Nielsen 2001). In this study, Indigenous peoples are defined as, "populations of people who had ancestral relationships to Place that were already several centuries if not several millennia old at the point of contact with Euro-American colonisers" (Price et al. 2021:310). Co -management arrangements may contribute a range of positive functions to natural resource management, including the integration of different knowledge systems such as Indigenous knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, and local ecological knowledge. In this study we utilize the definition of Indigenous knowledge (IK) provided by Warren et al. (1995) as knowledge held by Indigenous people, or knowledge unique to a society or culture. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a body of knowledge, practices, and beliefs, developed through adaptive processes and passed down through generations by cultural transmission, about human relationships with each other and the environment (Berkes et al. 2000). A related body of knowledge that may overlap with IK and TEK is local ecological knowledge (LEK), held by a group of people about their local ecosystems, which includes the interplay between organisms and the environment (Olsson and Folke 2001). Acknowledging that cultures are dynamic and constantly evolving, we also engage with the integrated term Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) to describe knowledge systems held by both Indigenous and local peoples (Williams et al. 2020). In this study, we recognize the knowledge held by hunters in Hawaii, not all of whom are native Hawaiian, as a form of ILK. Many hunters possess valuable ecological knowledge about the places where they hunt (Peterson et al. 2011, Young et al. 2016a). In addition, hunting, along with fishing, and other related biocultural practices, such as preparation, preservation, and sharing of meat are recognized for their value in maintaining connections between humans and the environment through the gathering of food (Vaughan and Vitousek 2013, Garibaldi and Turner 2004). In some places co -management of invasive species includes Indigenous and local communities who value and utilize these resources. In Kakadu National Park, Jawoyn elders and park rangers engaged with Indigenous knowledge to co -manage feral pigs, for example. In this case, they were able to quantify the 'Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA, 2Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program, Honolulu, HI, USA, 3Hui'Aina Momona, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA