Local support for protected areas linked to social impacts and personal attachment

Designating and managing protected areas is one of the main approaches to protecting biodiversity worldwide. The EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030 commits to protecting 30% of its land and sea area by 2030. Meeting this target will entail the expansion of protected area networks across the region.

It is important that communities support the existence of protected areas, not only to secure the social license for government action that is expected in democratic societies, but also because local support can facilitate management actions.

This study, which received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 programme, focused on six protected areas in five European countries: one site each in Estonia (Matsalu National Park), Germany (Black Forest National Park), Greece (Prespes National Park) and Romania (Sighisoara-Târnava Mare Natura 2000 site)  and two sites in the UK (England (Peak District National Park) and Wales (Snowdonia National Park)). Surveys were conducted with a total of 2 324 residents living in or near the protected areas. In the cases of Greece and Romania, surveys were conducted face-to-face in 2019, while in the other countries they were conducted online in 2021, due to Covid restrictions.

The questionnaires considered three types of support for the protected area: the level of support expressed by the respondent (stated support), whether the respondent complied with specific regulations or guidance and whether they had ever volunteered for the protected area (two types of active support). There were also questions on a wide range of potential influencing factors – covering areas such as demographics, perceived social impact of the protected area, trust in government institutions and personal values. The researchers analysed the responses for each protected area separately to determine which factors affected the stated support at each site, and also to see how stated support was associated with different types of active support.

Only two factors had a significant influence on stated support at more than half the sites, according to the researchers. These factors were perceived social impacts (significant in five cases, with a higher perceived benefit correlating with higher support) and the level of place attachment (significant in four cases, with those respondents agreeing that ‘this area means a lot to me’ expressing greater support). Degree of trust in government institutions was significant in three cases. Other factors were significant in one or two cases, say the researchers, suggesting that their relevance is dependent on the context of each protected area.

Stated support was associated with greater compliance with protected area regulations in five cases, say the researchers, confirming that local support can have a beneficial impact on management interventions. However, they say that stated support was associated with volunteering in only two cases. They note that previous studies have found that the decision to volunteer can be influenced by many factors, including personal circumstances such as a desire for outdoor activity or social contact. They suggest that these influences may be more significant than support for the protected area in individual cases.

The researchers argue that assessments of protected areas in Europe typically focus on ecological effectiveness rather than social effectiveness. They note that social assessments present logistical and resource challenges for protected area management authorities. They suggest that this research could inform the development of a social assessment framework for protected areas to simplify and facilitate this process as European protected area networks expand.

The researchers note that while many factors appear to be significant in a minority of cases, these results indicate that certain considerations – in particular, social impact and place attachment – seem to be relevant for the majority of sites. They suggest that these should be an initial focus for social assessments. They add that future research could consider a wider range of potentially influential factors and could help to refine the specific indicators used, possibly including those on social capital, governance and on people perception of management and ecological effectiveness.

Further Information:

European Research Council-funded research project FIDELIO (Forecasting Social Impacts of Biodiversity Conservation Policies in Europe) is a five-year research project exploring social impacts of 20 European Protected Areas.

Source:

McGinlay, J., Jones, N., Malesios, C., Dimitrakopoulos, P. G., Begley, A., Berzborn, S., Botsch, K., Gkoumas, V., Kontoleon, A., Külm, S., Nomikou, M., Semm, M. and Sepp, K. (2023) Exploring local public support for protected areas: What social factors influence stated and active support among local people? Environmental Science & Policy 145: 250–261. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.04.003

To cite this article/service:

“Science for Environment Policy”: European Commission DG Environment News Alert Service, edited by the Science Communication Unit, The University of the West of England, Bristol.

Notes on content:

The contents and views included in Science for Environment Policy are based on independent, peer reviewed research and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission. Please note that this article is a summary of only one study. Other studies may come to other conclusions.