Nonviolent communication and the wildlife tourism sector

This conceptual paper develops and applies a Nonviolent Communication (NVC) framework to wildlife tourism, proposing it as a communication-based framework to help address human–wildlife conflict and advance biodiversity-relevant outcomes. NVC is a process designed to mediate disagreements and conflicts at all levels, utilising a language of compassion built around deep listening to others, respect, attentiveness, and empathy. The model is based on four key components: observations, feelings, needs, and requests, encompassing dialogue from all relevant stakeholders, including wildlife, local communities, tourists, tourism operators, and NGOs. We argue for the importance of teaching and literacy in nonviolent communication, both in theory and practice, as efforts to push the field in new directions while also keeping pace with developments in other disciplines. We apply the model to real-world examples of animal-based tourism, including camel riding in Australia, the Giant Panda Base in China, and bullfighting in Mexico. The framework extends existing welfare and coexistence models by positioning empathy as a structured and dialogic process through which interactions among tourism actors may be interpreted in relation to animal welfare, coexistence, and biodiversity concerns.