The transformative potential of local stakeholder engagement in the reintroduction of a contested species

Wildlife translocations for conservation purposes are carried out in complex socio-political environments where diverse stakeholders are key to shaping outcomes. Nevertheless, social feasibility and participatory processes are often not fully integrated into the delivery of legitimate and effective conservation actions. We investigated how stakeholder engagement can be delivered in practice and how this delivery is linked to the transformative potential of conservation translocations. We studied the proposed reintroduction of hen harriers Circus cyaneus to southern England in the context of chronic conflicts surrounding the conservation of this species in the UK. We aimed to (a) identify the perspectives of key local stakeholders, focusing on project desirability and drivers, and (b) examine how social engagement processes during project development and implementation could shape reintroduction success. We adopted a qualitative approach comprising participant observation and sixteen semistructured stakeholder interviews, which we analysed thematically using the Framework Method. Perspectives on the translocation project were overall positive, especially regarding the potential return of hen harriers. However, there were also tensions between the perceived suitability of the local context for reintroduction, and the unsuitability of the national context, due to chronic disagreement among conservationists over hen harrier management. Engagement activities, timing, team composition and the project's open, on-the-ground approach fostered stakeholder engagement and initiated collaborative processes, holding socio-ecological transformative potential for hen harrier management and possibly broader biodiversity conservation. Even within challenging national contexts, therefore, honest stakeholder engagement could enable the alignment of interests, challenging entrenched conservation conflicts at different scales through a bottom-up dynamic.