IUCN

Since publication of the 2015 Great Ape Health Guidelines, great ape tourism has continued to gain in popularity, and landscape conversion continues on a steep trajectory. In addition, there has been a tremendous amount of new scientific research on pathogens that infect wild great apes. Furthermore, the world experienced epidemics of Ebola (in West Africa from 2014–2016 and in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2018–2020) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023).

Societies around the globe harvest wild species, to a greater or lesser extent, for food, building materials, healthcare, medicines, pest control, ornamentation, income, recreation, and cultural and spiritual purposes. While this use of wild species directly contributes to the well-being of billions of people globally, over-exploitation of wild species is one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss.

As human-wildlife conflicts become more frequent, serious and widespread worldwide, they are notoriously challenging to resolve, and many efforts to address these conflicts struggle to make progress. These Guidelines provide an essential guide to understanding and resolving human-wildlife conflict. The Guidelines aim to provide foundations and principles for good practice, with clear, practical guidance on how best to tackle conflicts and enable coexistence with wildlife.