Wildlife across the globe faces mounting challenges, many of which stem directly from human activity. From overfishing to deforestation, climate change to pollution, our footprint shapes the wellbeing of species great and small. Yet, the story does not end with damage. With awareness, innovation, and collective effort, we can mitigate human impact and support the welfare of wild animals.
Understanding Human Impacts
The first step in mitigation is recognising the many ways humans affect wildlife. For marine giants like whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), threats include:
Vessel strikes: as surface feeders, they are vulnerable to collision.
Bycatch: entanglement in fishing nets remains a significant cause of injury and mortality.
Tourism stress: unmanaged interactions can alter natural behaviours.
Climate change: shifting plankton blooms reduce food availability.
These threats are mirrored on land, too: elephants face habitat loss, birds suffer from light pollution, and amphibians are impacted by pesticide runoff. Human impact is everywhere, but so are opportunities to reduce it.
Strategies for Mitigation
Mitigating harm requires action across different levels:
Policy and Legislation
International agreements such as CITES and CMS protect endangered species, but enforcement at national and local levels is key. Stronger regulations on shipping lanes, fishing practices, and land use can reduce direct harm.
Sustainable Practices
Communities can adopt practices that reduce impact while sustaining livelihoods. In the Maldives, eco-tourism operators working within marine protected areas demonstrate how responsible whale shark encounters can minimise animal stress while generating sustainable income (Ziegler, Dearden & Rollins, 2018).
Technology and Innovation
Tools like satellite tracking, drones, and acoustic monitoring help identify high-risk areas and inform adaptive management. Dynamic ocean management, for instance, can reroute shipping away from known whale shark aggregation sites.
Education and Awareness
Empowering people to understand their impact makes a difference. Public campaigns on plastic reduction, responsible tourism, or sustainable seafood guide consumer choices that ripple globally.
The Welfare Dimension
It is not only about populations and ecosystems, it is about individual animal welfare. Conservation has traditionally focused on species numbers, but welfare science highlights the importance of minimising stress, pain, and disruption to individual animals (Beausoleil et al., 2018). A whale shark repeatedly harassed by tourists may survive, but its welfare has been compromised. Ethical conservation integrates both survival and wellbeing.
Call to Action
Mitigation is not just for policymakers or scientists. Every individual has a role:
Choose responsible eco-tourism operators.
Support NGOs pushing for stronger policies.
Reduce your personal footprint, from seafood choices to carbon emissions.
Understanding welfare science and human impact can strengthen conservation strategies for students and professionals. For communities and organisations, working with certified project managers ensures welfare considerations are built into project design through tools like MIRADI.
By acknowledging our impact and acting with empathy, we can shift from being the problem to becoming part of the solution.
References
Beausoleil, N.J., Mellor, D.J., Baker, L., Baker, S.E., Bellio, M., Clarke, A.S., Dale, A., Garlick, S., Jones, B., Harvey, A. and Pitcher, B.J., 2018. “Feelings and fitness” not “feelings or fitness”–the raison d’être of conservation welfare, which aligns conservation and animal welfare objectives. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 5, p.296.
Cárdenas-Palomo, N., Cuevas, E., De la Parra Venegas, R., Galván-Pastoriza, B., & Galván-Magaña, F., 2015. Habitat suitability and environmental factors affecting whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregations in the Mexican Caribbean. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 98(8), pp.1953–1967.
Ziegler, J.A., Dearden, P., & Rollins, R., 2018. Visitation and economic impact of whale shark tourism in a Maldivian marine protected area. Tourism Management, 67, pp.49–58.