Barn owls know no boundaries

Ecological and Multilevel Governance in the Making The Evolution of the ‘Owls Know no Boundaries’ Project The concept of science supporting diplomacy is at the heart of our ecological and multilevel governance project. « Barn Owls Know no Boundaries » project brings people from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to work together on solving an environmental challenge. Rodents devastate agricultural fields leading farmers to spread poison to kill them. To favour environmentally friendly agriculture, we dispose nest-boxes for Barn Owls to breed as a family of owls consumes 2000 to 6000 rodents per year, which motivates farmers to reduce the use of rodenticides. This program is implemented in Israel, Jordan and Palestine and regular meetings between members of these three communities allow us to spread the word about nature conservation across political and religious divides. Because Barn Owls know no socio-political boundaries, we reconnect ecosystems shared by countries in conflict. The strength of this approach is that the projects are implemented through a multilevel governance: (1) in interaction with local actors (schools, farmers), (2) nationally with universities, national leaders (politicians, economic leaders, non-governmental organisations) and (3) by mobilizing the international scientific community. This project concept is amendable to other contested regions. By promoting nature conservation in the Middle East, we spread the seeds for a future peace treaty