[PPT] - Public views on biodiversity - the construction of attitudes PowerPoint Presentation

SLIDE 1

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Public views on biodiversity

the construction of attitudes

towards biodiversity management

Anke Fischer

Socio-Economic Research Group Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen

SLIDE 2

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Structure

1. Understanding public attitudes – why?
2. Useful concepts: Social representations,

values, beliefs and attitudes

3. Three examples:
Social representations of biodiversity
Attitudes towards management of an invasive plant
Social representations of species

SLIDE 3

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Measuring public attitudes…

UK Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (2003)

SLIDE 4

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

“low levels of knowledge, little understanding” (Hunter & Brehm 2003)?? “strongly held but poorly defended concerns” (Hull et al. 2001)???

from measuring to understanding people’s views moving away from a ‘deficit model’

Measuring public attitudes…

SLIDE 5

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Questions

What does biodiversity actually mean to

people – including ourselves?

How do people relate it to other concepts

such as ‘nature’? How is this related to their worldviews in general?

What do people value about biological

diversity?

How are these values linked to people’s views
n biodiversity management?

SLIDE 6

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

A few useful concepts

(Social) representations (Moscovici 2000)

meanings that individuals assign to an object
socially elaborated systems of values, ideas

and practices that define an object for a social group

can have both descriptive and normative, i.e.,

evaluative, aspects

help to “familiarize the unfamiliar”

anchoring

SLIDE 7

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Beliefs Beliefs Values Values Attitudes Attitudes Intentions Intentions Behaviour Behaviour Values: transsituational guiding principles in a person’s life (Schwartz & Sagiv 1990) Belief: relation between an object and an attribute or other object (Fishbein & Ajzen 1975) both part of (social) representations Attitude: a cognitive representation that summarises an individual’s evaluation of particular objects (Smith & Mackie 2000)

Rokeach 1973, Fishbein & Ajzen 1975, Fulton et al. 1996; simplified!!

A few useful concepts

SLIDE 8

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

ALTER-Net RA5: “Public attitudes to biodiversity and its conservation” previous studies: scientific concepts as the yardstick to measure public awareness and knowledge qualitative research: public understandings of and attitudes towards biodiversity issues

Representations of biodiversity

Arjen Buijs, Anke Fischer, Juliette Young, Dieter Rink, Petru Lisievici, Jana Sedláková, István Tátrai

SLIDE 9

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Qualitative research in six European countries aim: gather information on representations and attitudes exploratory, usually group-based approaches wide range of members of the public: tourists, local residents, land managers, conservationists, arts students, … reference to protected areas common discussion guide common coding procedure n=359 participants

Understanding public attitudes

Group discussion in Braila, Romania. Photo: Petru Lisievici

SLIDE 10

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Study sites

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Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

The Scottish case

Cairngorms: National Park since 2003 habitats: eg., native pine and birch woodland, heather moorland method: focus-group discussions combined with drawing exercises sample size: 8 groups; n= 44 visitors and residents of NP and adjacent areas

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Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

What does ‘biodiversity’ mean to members of the public?

many respondents familiar with biodiversity-related

concepts (‘balance’, ‘food webs’), although NOT necessarily with the scientific terminology analysis distinguishes between (i) representations related to the term ‘biodiversity’ (ii) representations independent from scientific terms

Results

SLIDE 13

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

respondents underestimate their own knowledge

ften vague expressions when directly asked

but: conceptually rich insights are revealed indirectly biodiversity is part of a complex mental representation

Representations of biodiversity

“connected” “contained in the same environment” “no hierarchy” “landscape feeding into it” “wildlife” “water at the centre” “only plant I know the name of: club moss” “reindeer – metaphor – shouldn’t be there” Biodiversity drawings

Scotland

SLIDE 14

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

What does biodiversity mean to members of the public?

biodiversity embedded in complex mental constructs
strong normative components

role of humans in nature images of nature: wilderness, functional, arcadian functions and benefits of biodiversity attributes and values related to nature views on biodiversity management attitudes towards biodiversity management measures

Source: Buijs, Fischer, Rink & Young 2008

Representations of biodiversity

SLIDE 15

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

What do respondents consider as ideal states of nature?
What do they consider as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ biodiversity?
Which attributes of the natural environment are valued?

balance

“It is the balance that keeps everything healthy. You have got to maintain the balance, the natural balance” [UK]

untouched by humans

“Man has become somebody who is constantly intervening in nature. He wants to control nature and shape it (…). I think that is wrong.” [NL]

nativeness

“The native woodland, they are the most attractive places to be and there (…) it looks like it should look. It just seems more correct in some indefinable way” [UK]

Values and biodiversity

SLIDE 16

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

German tourists like: heather, gorse, Highland cows dislike: ferns (bracken) English tourists like: ferns dislike: heather, gorse, bagpipes ☺ Gorse Heather Bracken

?

Values and biodiversity

Focus group discussions in the Scottish highlands Fischer & Young 2007

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Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

heather, gorse, Highland cattle:

typical features of Scottish highlands
can’t be found at home
“gorse smells nice”

ferns (bracken):

“are taking over”
“doesn’t look neat”
“are introduced by the English”
“suppress other plants”

heather, gorse:

“are everywhere”
“epidemic”
though “one of the national

things about Scotland”

?

Values and biodiversity

SLIDE 18

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

heather, gorse, Highland cattle:

typical features of Scottish highlands
can’t be found at home
“gorse smells nice”

ferns (bracken):

“are taking over”
“doesn’t look neat”
“are introduced by the English”
“suppress other plants”

heather, gorse:

“are everywhere”
“epidemic” though “one of the

national things about Scotland”

native and typical, unique features positive
(illegitimate) introduction negative
dominance of single species negative

→ Beliefs might diverge, but values are the same!! → Can we find such value-based arguments also in other cases? → How do they relate to attitudes towards management?

Values and biodiversity

SLIDE 19

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Conclusions and open questions

representations of biodiversity:

– people underestimate their own knowledge – but: conceptually rich insights are revealed indirectly

representations are constructed of a range of elements
important notions: food-webs, links between elements of

a system ( ‘balance’)

strong values associated (uniqueness, nativeness,

untouchedness, balance ≠ dominance, …) Do individuals apply these values across situations? How do these values relate to individuals’ attitudes?

SLIDE 20

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Craigleith island Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica Tree mallow Lavatera arborea

Example 2: The ‘tree mallow case’

More information: Fischer & Van der Wal 2007

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Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Tree mallow

up to 3 m high
Mediterranean-Atlantic herb
frost sensitive climate

change impacts??

on nearby Bass Rock

introduced (1st record 1661)

recently spread onto
ther islands
since 1999 dominant on

Craigleith, covers now most of the island’s surface

July 2005

SLIDE 22

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Puffins

breeding puffins increased on

East coast of Scotland over the last 40 years

on Craigleith numbers dropped

from 28,000 burrows in 1999 to

nly 12,100 in 2003
puffins nest in burrows that they

dig into the ground

Development of puffin numbers in two of the largest UK colonies. Source: Harris et al. 2003

SLIDE 23

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Management options

fewer puffin burrows

where tree mallow densities are higher

intervention possible?

desired?

options:

– no intervention at all – cutting tree mallow – introduce neutered rabbits – spraying of tree mallow with herbicides

Relationship between mallow density and the density of puffin burrows Source: Van der Wal 2004

Local conservationists: Get rid of the mallow!

Cut it, completely!
Spray it!

SLIDE 24

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Survey: research questions

Do some of the values that we found earlier play a role

here, too? Which ones are seen as important?

Which values are associated with the proposed

management options?

What are people’s attitudes towards the options?
Are beliefs and values indeed linked to their attitudes?

Beliefs Beliefs Values Values Attitudes Attitudes

Belief: relation between an object and an attribute

r other object (Fishbein & Ajzen 1975)

expectation that a certain management approach will meet a certain value

SLIDE 25

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Methods

quantitative approach
structured, face-to-face interviews:

questionnaire

first part: information on options
open-ended questions, rankings, attitude and

value scales, semantic differential (both rankings and ratings for each construct)

random sample of local population and visitors
n= 244

SLIDE 26

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Results: beliefs about species

ugly strong worthless abundant new

rdinary

beautiful vulnerable precious rare ancient unique ugly strong worthless abundant new

rdinary

beautiful vulnerable precious rare ancient unique

(a) Tree mallow (b) Puffins

neutral slightly slightly quite quite extremely extremely

< 5% 10-20 % 20-30 % 50-60 % 60-70 % 30-40 % 40-50 % 5-10 %

Beliefs about (a) tree mallow and (b) puffins

(size of the circles proportional to the number of respondents)

SLIDE 27

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Attitudes towards management

Attitude indices for tree mallow management

ptions.

grey boxes: quartiles thick vertical lines: median whiskers: percentiles 5 and 95

5 10 15 20 25

Cutting Introduction

f rabbits

Herbicides No intervention

Management options

Attitude index scores

SLIDE 28

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Management options: reasons

11.8 4.2 2.5 2.4 Most responsible, ethical 16.7 5.4 1.6 3.6 Cost-effective 4.2 14.5 0.8 4.0 Restores former state 4.2 7.6 4.4 Fair to rabbits and/or puffins (animal welfare) 17.6 8.3 7.2 3.4 6.0 Leads to state of balance 16.8 8.0 Allows local involvement, raises public awareness 11.8 8.3 12.7 20.1 14.4 Least intrusive 17.6 58.3 9.1 15.1 18.3 Most effective 52.9 45.5 12.6 18.4 Most natural 17.6 16.7 27.3 57.1 37.9 Least risk, fewer side-effects, most control No intervention (n=17) Herbicides first (n=24) Rabbits first (n=55) Cutting first (n=119) Total (n=215) Reasons mentioned:

SLIDE 29

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Relative importance of values

Safeguarding a state of balance Supporting the most natural solution Safeguarding endangered species and habitats Supporting native species and communities Safeguarding rare animals and habitats Supporting species and habitats that are unique Safeguarding those species I feel closest to

Ranks Values 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

SLIDE 30

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Relationship values-attitudes

Weighted value indices (mean ± standard error) for ‘balance’ and ‘naturalness’ in relation to the ranks assigned to the management option ‘no intervention’.

4
2

2 4 6 8 1 2 3 4 No intervention - rank Index Balance Naturalness

SLIDE 31

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

0.011 11.10 434.72

Residence in local county

0.001 15.73 439.35

Education

0.039 8.37 431.98

Rarity (v*b)

0.001 36.57 460.19

Balance (v*b)

0.001 19.75 443.37

Naturalness (v*b)

0.001 155.54 579.16

Intercept

p ≤ χ2

2 Log

Likelih.

Effect Summary statistics of multinomial logit regression models (pseudo r2=0.345) predicting preference for biodiversity management options

Relation values-attitudes

SLIDE 32

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Relation values-attitudes

0.020

0.597

Naturalness

Herbicides vs. rabbits

0.004

1.404

Education 0.001 1.751 Balance 0.001

1.939

Naturalness

Herbicides vs. no intervention

0.023

1.045

Education 0.058 0.742 Rarity 0.001 1.771 Balance 0.005

1.342

Naturalness

Rabbits vs. no intervention

0.001

1.814

Balance 0.003 1.381 Naturalness

No intervention vs. cutting

0.057

0.567

Residence 0.002

0.688

Education 0.021

0.559

Naturalness

Herbicides vs. cutting

p ≤ β Variable Contrast

SLIDE 33

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Results: summary

attitudes towards tree mallow management informed by individuals’ values and beliefs strong values: ‘naturalness’ and ‘balance’ qualitative results: perceived risks of intervention are highly important people distinguish between the concepts of ‘non- nativeness’ and ‘dominance’

More information: Fischer & Van der Wal 2007

SLIDE 34

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Questions

Can we find out more about how people see

species?

Do representations of species help us

understand desirability of population increase?

Which role do specific beliefs play within these

representations? e.g., nativeness?

Are such relationships species-transcendent?
Can we discern social patterns in these

representations? example 3…

SLIDE 35

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Example 3 - A European survey

1. Sampling:
8 countries
1 site per country: urban-rural gradient
agreed criteria for site selection
n=300 per site n=2378
2. Administration
Austria, Flanders, Netherlands, France, Scotland: postal
Romania, Hungary, Slovakia: face-to-face
random sample of general public

SLIDE 36

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Study sites

Fransje Langers, Ketil Skogen, Isabelle Mauz, Marta Dobrovodská, Nicoleta Geamana, Oana Musceleanu, István Tátrai, Juliette Young, Birgit Friedl, Myriam Dumortier, Hans Scheers, Anke Fischer

SLIDE 37

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Design

Three species:

DEER: red deer, roe deer (B, SK, A), ibex (F)
SPIDER: garden spider Araneus diadematus (all countries)
NON-NATIVE PLANT: Rhododendron (UK, HU), Robinia

(F, B, SK), Heracleum (NL), Solidago (A), Bidens (RO) Eight questions:

Desirability of moderate increase (scale: -2 to +2)
Decrease/increase last 20 years (scale: -2 to +2)
6 attributes: attractive, vulnerable, valuable, rare,

harmless, native (semantic differential)

SLIDE 38

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Species representations: beliefs

n=2378

attractive strong valuable common harmful foreign unattractive vulnerable worthless rare harmless native decreased increased undesirable desirable

(a) Deer

< 5% 10-20 % 20-30 % 50-60 % 30-40 % 40-50 % 5-10 %

(b) Garden spider (c) Non-native plant species

attractive strong valuable common harmful foreign unattractive vulnerable worthless rare harmless native decreased increased undesirable desirable attractive strong valuable common harmful foreign unattractive vulnerable worthless rare harmless native decreased increased undesirable desirable

somewhat extremely extremely somewhat neutral somewhat extremely extremely somewhat neutral

SLIDE 39

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations and desirability

2069 2034 2098

n

0.405 0.303 0.335

adjusted r-square

* ** *

constant

***

0.319

***

0.215

***

0.371

decrease-increase

* 0.044 ** 0.060 ns 0.017

foreign-native

*** 0.138 *** 0.154 *** 0.165

harmful-harmless

ns 0.013 0.055 0.039 *** 0.103

common-rare

***

0.185

***

0.202

***

0.166

valuable-worthless

*** 0.105 ns 0.008 ns 0.02

strong-vulnerable

***

0.108

***

0.182

**

0.063

attractive- unattractive Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) NON-NATIVE PLANT GARDEN SPIDER DEER Variable

Results from linear regression (dependent variable: desirability of a species’ moderate increase). Significance levels: p<0.05=*; p<0.01=**; p<0.001=***.

SLIDE 40

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations and desirability

2069 2034 2098

n

0.405 0.303 0.335

adjusted r-square

* ** *

constant

***

0.319

***

0.215

***

0.371

decrease-increase

* 0.044 ** 0.060 ns 0.017

foreign-native

*** 0.138 *** 0.154 *** 0.165

harmful-harmless

ns 0.013 0.055 0.039 *** 0.103

common-rare

***

0.185

***

0.202

***

0.166

valuable-worthless

*** 0.105 ns 0.008 ns 0.02

strong-vulnerable

***

0.108

***

0.182

**

0.063

attractive- unattractive Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) NON-NATIVE PLANT GARDEN SPIDER DEER Variable

Results from linear regression (dependent variable: desirability of a species’ moderate increase). Significance levels: p<0.05=*; p<0.01=**; p<0.001=***.

SLIDE 41

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations and desirability

2069 2034 2098

n

0.405 0.303 0.335

adjusted r-square

* ** *

constant

***

0.319

***

0.215

***

0.371

decrease-increase

* 0.044 ** 0.060 ns 0.017

foreign-native

*** 0.138 *** 0.154 *** 0.165

harmful-harmless

ns 0.013 0.055 0.039 *** 0.103

common-rare

***

0.185

***

0.202

***

0.166

valuable-worthless

*** 0.105 ns 0.008 ns 0.02

strong-vulnerable

***

0.108

***

0.182

**

0.063

attractive- unattractive Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) NON-NATIVE PLANT GARDEN SPIDER DEER Variable

Results from linear regression (dependent variable: desirability of a species’ moderate increase). Significance levels: p<0.05=*; p<0.01=**; p<0.001=***.

SLIDE 42

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations and desirability

2069 2034 2098

n

0.405 0.303 0.335

adjusted r-square

* ** *

constant

***

0.319

***

0.215

***

0.371

decrease-increase

* 0.044 ** 0.060 ns 0.017

foreign-native

*** 0.138 *** 0.154 *** 0.165

harmful-harmless

ns 0.013 0.055 0.039 *** 0.103

common-rare

***

0.185

***

0.202

***

0.166

valuable-worthless

*** 0.105 ns 0.008 ns 0.02

strong-vulnerable

***

0.108

***

0.182

**

0.063

attractive- unattractive Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) NON-NATIVE PLANT GARDEN SPIDER DEER Variable

Results from linear regression (dependent variable: desirability of a species’ moderate increase). Significance levels: p<0.05=*; p<0.01=**; p<0.001=***.

SLIDE 43

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations and desirability

2069 2034 2098

n

0.405 0.303 0.335

adjusted r-square

* ** *

constant

***

0.319

***

0.215

***

0.371

decrease-increase

* 0.044 ** 0.060 ns 0.017

foreign-native

*** 0.138 *** 0.154 *** 0.165

harmful-harmless

ns 0.013 0.055 0.039 *** 0.103

common-rare

***

0.185

***

0.202

***

0.166

valuable-worthless

*** 0.105 ns 0.008 ns 0.02

strong-vulnerable

***

0.108

***

0.182

**

0.063

attractive- unattractive Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) Sign. Beta (standardised) NON-NATIVE PLANT GARDEN SPIDER DEER Variable

Results from linear regression (dependent variable: desirability of a species’ moderate increase). Significance levels: p<0.05=*; p<0.01=**; p<0.001=***.

SLIDE 44

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations in context…

Structural equation model: DEER n=2018

conservation apathy

conservationists exaggerate

e1

projects don't work

e2

too much emphasis

e3

desirability of population increase

e4

valuable/worthless harmful/harmless

Chi2=276.162; DF=63; p=.000; RMSEA= .041; CFI=.958

e5 e6 e8

age

.16

mutualism

care about animals

e9

emotional bond

e10

animal rights

e11

perceived population changes

e7 e12

number books at home interest in hunting

.19

university degree

.19

.16

.16

.36

.12
.12
.40

.17

.17

.09 .10

.16

.18

.11
.15
.31

.12

.18

.10 .19

SLIDE 45

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Representations in context…

.13

conservation apathy

.57 conservationists exaggerate e1 .41 projects don't w ork e2 .48 too much emphasis e3 .35

desirability of population increase

e4 .15 valuable/worthless .05 harmful/harmless

Chi2=276.162; DF=63; p=.000; RMSEA= .041; CFI=.958

e5 e6 e8 age .16 .03

mutualism

.51 care about animals e9 .46 emotional bond e10 .53 animal rights e11 .16 perceived population changes e7 e12 number books at home interest in hunting

.19

.72 university degree

.19

.16

.16

.36

.12

.68 .73

.12
.40

.17 .64 .70 .76

.17

.09 .10

.16

.18

.11
.15
.31

.12

.18

.10 .19

Three additional constructs:

conservation apathy Thompson & Barton 1994
mutualism (‘strong emotional bond with

animals’) Manfredo, Teel et al. 2005

cultural capital/education Skogen 2008

negatively correlated with each other

previously: mutualism=highly educated (Skogen & Thrane 2008) Comparison of plant, spider and deer models 3 patterns:

conservation apathy: deer + spider worthless
higher education: plants + spider valuable and harmless,

deer harmful and increasing

mutualism: all species decreased, deer harmless

SLIDE 46

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Conclusions

beliefs are inter-related representations
beliefs inform desirability

– strongest role: previous change, harmfulness, value – less strong: vulnerability, rarity, nativeness

background factors inform beliefs: social nature
f representations
higher education ≠ mutualism

SLIDE 47

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Summary

4 constructs: social representations, beliefs,

values, attitudes

3 studies:

– de-constructing representations of biodiversity – Which values inform attitudes towards management? – Which beliefs inform attitudes towards species?

from measuring to understanding moving away from a ‘deficit model’

SLIDE 48

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Summary

biodiversity: complex representations

– food-webs, interlinkedness, ‘balance’ – strong values associated (nativeness, balance, uniqueness, untouchedness)

species: beliefs are related and inform attitudes

– nativeness, rarity, vulnerability: less important – previous increase, value, harmfulness: important

management options:

– attitudes are not arbitrary, but informed by value considerations – balance and naturalness most important

representations are constructed of a range of elements and embedded in (social) contexts

SLIDE 49

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Thank you.

SLIDE 50

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

‘Biodiversity’ means …

“Where I live in the South, the main crop is rapeseed so there is just acres and acres
f yellow. That is the opposite of biodiversity…” (mountaineer)
“but diversity as well, not just numbers. Different types of plants, animals, geology”

(mountaineer)

definitions

“Biodiversity is just a fancy word for nature” (ranger)
“It has become a buzzword…” (geographer engaged in the public participation process)
“What does that mean… I don’t really understand… what is biological diversity?”

(tourist)

confusion frustration? scientific terminology “trickling down”, whilst among professionals critical perspectives dominant?

SLIDE 51

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

role of humans in nature images of nature:

wilderness, functional, arcadian

functions and benefits of biodiversity attributes and values related to nature views on biodiversity management attitudes

towards

biodiversity management measures

Biodiversity representations

Source: Buijs, Fischer, Rink & Young 2008

SLIDE 52

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Social representations

role of humans in nature images of nature functions and benefits of biodiversity attributes and values related to nature views on biodiversity management attitudes towards biodiversity management measures

humans as managers functional resilience, aesthetics, economic benefits use/ sustainable use many regulations not necessary non-static Prototypical construct (simplified) held

e. g., by some farmers and foresters

SLIDE 53

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

role of humans in nature images of nature functions and benefits of biodiversity attributes and values related to nature views on biodiversity management attitudes towards biodiversity management measures

humans as enemies wilderness balance (repair and then) hands off strict regulations required (access, urbanization, use) restoration of previous states static, untouched, in balance Prototypical construct (simplified) held

e. g., by some walkers and birdwatchers

Social representations

SLIDE 54

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Methods: semantic differential

unique

rdinary

new ancient abundant rare precious worthless strong vulnerable ugly beautiful

extremely

3

quite

2

slightly

1

neutral slightly +1 quite +2 extremely +3

Would you say that tree mallow is…

SLIDE 55

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Here, we would like to know how you feel about humans dealing with nature in general.

“I think there is a balance in nature and it should be kept by all means and, where necessary, restored.” “I place a higher value on animals and plants I feel closer to.” “I think most care should be taken of plants, animals or habitats that are endangered or under threat.” “I like nature best when I can see that it is well-maintained and managed by humans.” “I think that most care should be taken of animals, plants and places in nature which are rare.” “A priority of nature conservation should be to prevent the spreading of introduced plants and animals.” “That certain parts of the environment are as untouched by humans as possible is very important for me.”

very much 5 4 3 2 not at all 1 I feel like this…

Methods: values scale

SLIDE 56

Anke Fischer Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Aberdeen a.fischer@macaulay.ac.uk

Which one of these management options do you favour most? Which one do you favour least? Please use 1 to indicate the option that you find most desirable, etc…

No intervention Spray tree mallow Introduce neutered rabbits Cutting tree mallow Rank Option