Coexistence 2.0? How interactions between humans and wildlife are mediated in Web 2.0 space

The article explores what we term “coexistence 2.0”: the simultaneous separation of people and wildlife in physical space and their reconnection online. Our discussion builds on a growing body of research examining the uptake of web 2.0 platforms by conservation organizations to encourage virtual connection with nature, often characterized as “nature 2.0”. Yet within this prolific nature 2.0 literature, the particular dynamic of coexistence 2.0 has not yet been explicitly highlighted and analysed. To develop our discussion, we introduce and analyze a specific case of human-brown bear conflict, namely the so-called “case of the bear from Belitsa”. This emblematic case of a brown bear attack on a woman occurred in 2021 in the region of the town of Belitsa in Southwest Bulgaria. It was followed by unprecedented flood of public reactions, discussions and activism in support of the bear within the country, a large part of which took place within virtual space. Yet these reactions ironically tended to reinforce the sense that people and wildlife should remain physically separated in ways diametrically opposed to the aim to connect people and wildlife that nature 2.0 pursues. We conclude that peculiar promotion of coexistence 2.0 by various conservation actors thus appears to serve their conservation goals, but also highlights the central paradox embodied in effort to reconnect people with nature while still living at a distance from it.