Achieving coexistence with the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) in northeastern India: The provision of practical co-benefits to communities is critical to achieving long-term outreach impact

Most global bear populations are declining. Building public support for bear conservation, however, and overcoming community intolerance of human–bear conflict, often requires continuous and adaptive efforts. Whenever possible, such efforts could also innovatively address local needs. Here, we attempted to first identify those factors most influencing the attitudes of communities toward the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) around Dampa Tiger Reserve (DTR) (Mizoram, India). We then sought to understand if our outreach about sun bear ecology, methods for mitigating conflict, and improved livelihood options, had any long-term impact on community perceptions, local behavior, and livelihood practices. We interviewed a total of 950 locals over 5 years at three different intervals relating to our conservation programming: before activities, immediately upon concluding activities, and several years later. Overall, we found a slight increase in community support for sun bear conservation efforts between our initial (77.05%) and final interviews (82.2%). However, we observed a significantly greater increase in support among younger (<40 years) respondents exposed to our outreach activities (from 72% to 88.5%) between our first and final interviews (χ² = 0.31, df = 2, p < .050). We also saw a >20% increase in support for sun bear and general conservation action among respondents lacking a formal education (R² = 0.71, p < .05). Finally, we found that 56.58% of total respondents had ultimately adopted alternative livelihood options that we promoted, discussed, or shared with them during our outreach programs. Furthermore, these changes were concomitant with a measurable decrease in unsustainable agricultural practices, and an increase in forest cover, around DTR. Despite our net positive impacts, serious threats to biodiversity in the region remain, including commercial poaching, and planned expansion of crop monocultures; such threats underscore the continued need for effective enforcement tools and action, policies and practices that incentivize sustainability, and use of innovative outreach approaches.