People and Conservation

Question 1

Explore why understanding people through social science is key to conservation

Explore different approaches to changing human behaviour

Briefly discuss social science survey methods

Global biodiversity continues to decline
Tittensor et al 2014

Answer 1

Why?
“Conservation science is a mature discipline armed with knowledge and tools for effective management of populations and habitats”
- Johnson et al (2017) Science 356

Question 2

Why?
“Conservation science is a mature discipline armed with knowledge and tools for effective management of populations and habitats”
- Johnson et al (2017) Science 356

Answer 2

Outcomes of conservation responses for Swiss birds and plants

Population increase 18%

Population stabilisation 33%

Unsuccessful attempt 4%

Techniques known but not attempted 30%

Techniques unknown 6%

Success not assessed 9%
Gigon et al 1998

Question 3

Lack of conservation support

Answer 3

1. Inadequate funds – especially government & corporate investment
2. Non-compliance – illegal logging/wildlife trade, pesticide use regulations
3. Repealed decisions and legislation – protected area downgrading and degazettement; legislation e.g. USA & Brazil
4. Individual choices – consumption, transport etc.
5. Out-competed by other societal goals

Question 4

Human behaviour

Answer 4

Key differences exist between the developed and developing worlds
but human behaviours play a key role in all cases. In general…
Developed world – lack of conservation support despite the ‘ability’ to support it, conflict with other personal goals
Developing world – lack of conservation support because of perceived conflict with ‘legitimate’ development issues

Question 5

Quantifying level of conservation support

Methods
Randomly selected c. 300 people in urban areas across England Measured behavioural and financial support

Behavioural scale
Commitment to environmental sustainability scale (CESS) – 3 questions, 12 points available
e.g. “the environment is a low priority for me compared with a lot of other things in my life”
Mean = 8; 16% score of 11 or 12

Willingness to sacrifice scale (WTS) – 5 questions, 40 points available e.g. “I am willing to give things up that I like doing if they harm the natural environment”

Mean = 26; 27% score of 33 or more

Answer 5

Quantifying level of conservation support

Financial scale
Donations across charitable sectors – actual & hypothetical

Environment and conservation. Actual 8.0% vs. Hypothetical 17.5%

Question 6

Coupled natural-human systems

Human-natural coupling “human system impacts
and re-organises natural system”

Answer 6

• human induced forest loss & fragmentation increases conflict (associated with forest cover decline < 30-40%) • 40-50 elephants killed annually during crop raiding

Natural-human coupling “natural system responds to human
management & other drivers influencing human system”

100 people (max 300) killed annually by crop-raiding elephants

Individual farmers experience severe economic loss

Question 7

Social science is crucial

Answer 7

To understand human attitudes and responses to natural world and conservation, e.g.

• conservation advertising
• promote sustainable pro-environmental behaviour
• quantifying human benefits (& costs) of conservation

Question 8

Conservation advertising
‘the biggest and most effective campaign the RSPB has ever launched’ ‘hugely-successful, award-winning advertisement’
‘increased membership’
RSPB Press Release & Annual Reports

Increased membership? Perverse outcomes? – a single message
Changed behaviour?
TV advert

Answer 8

Conservation advertising

SAVE THE RHINO: Nothing we do will ever bring them back

ENDANGERED WILDLIFE TRUST: If you don’t pick it up they will

Bold, simple messages
Raise awareness but do they change behaviour?

Question 9

Conservation advertising: eco-labels
https://fsc-watch.com/
Theory - mimic labels of health & quality standards that benefit individual

Answer 9

But…
• Consumers care less about eco-labels as effects spread across society
• No adverse consequences for consumers who cannot distinguish effective and ineffective eco-labels so lots of ‘mimics’
• Industries use weak eco-labels to avoid strong regulation

Question 10

Need more robust independent regulation?

Answer 10

How do we change behaviour?

Economically rational? Financial incentives

Question 11

Changing behaviour: skylark plots
2% uptake rate!
Economically rationale or other factors?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/projects/details.aspx?id=198328

Answer 11

How do we change behaviour?
Economically rationale? Decision making: 25% logic + 75% emotion e.g. 9 million UK adults in serious debt Other values and attitudes strong influencers

Question 12

Promote nature connectedness?

Baba Dioum 1968 IUCN Meeting
“In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught”

Answer 12

David Attenborough Guardian 4th Nov 2018
“You want people to understand the wonder of nature. Some spin-off is that if they appreciate the wonder, then they care about it, and that’s when it brings you to your other mission – which is to make people interested, then more likely to care and conserve, and become active in saving the planet”

Question 13

50% respondents never/once or twice a year, every few months go to countryside
Coldwell & Evans 2017 PLoS One 12: e0174376

Answer 13

But nature connectedness and pro- environmental attitudes often poor predictors of pro-environmental behaviour
e.g. air travel - discretionary flights
People with higher pro-environmental attitudes and climate concern scores MORE likely to fly
Within ‘flyers’ distance flown and pro-environmental attitudes POSITIVELY correlated
Alcock et al 2017 Global Environ Change 42, 136-147

Question 14

Deficit model: assumes lack of information is key, educate people and they ‘do the right thing’
Knowledge Financial constraints Attitudes Values Emotions Efficacy Responsibility
i.e. cognitive constraints and biases have key roles in decision making

Answer 14

Nudging behaviour

Financial incentives & education target controlled conscious deliberation
But people tend to put off making complex hard decisions, which can further reduce effectiveness
Nudging targets contextual variables that often moderate behaviour through automatic, unconscious cognitive processes

Question 15

Systematic review of contextual vs traditional interventions on pro-environmental behaviour

e. g. change default café menu to veggie only & move meat options to separate menu
e. g. celebrities, match gender/ethnicity
e. g. living in a sustainably designed building primes engagement in pro-environmental behaviour

Byerly et al. 2018 Frontiers Ecol & Environment 16, 159-168

Answer 15

Promising (≥75% studies) Mixed (1-74% studies) No effect

• contextual interventions outperform education interventions
• financial incentives also outperformed education interventions
• contextual vs financial pattern unclear (insufficient data)
• combined approaches may be most effective

Question 16

Social networks

Similar kinds of people tend to interact more with each other (homophily)

i) Social selection - similar people interact
ii) Social influence/contagion - people influenced by those they interact with and conform

Answer 16

Shark bycatch: Hawaii longline tuna fishery

2.34 sharks per 1,000 hooks
Information exchange
1.76 sharks per 1,000 hooks
1.79 sharks per 1,000 hooks

Could save 46,000 sharks (2008-12) Just 1 fishery!

Barnes et al. 2016 PNAS 2016;113:6466-6471

Question 17

Cultural ecosystem services

‘non-material benefits that people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience’

Answer 17

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005
• Health & well-being benefits
• Aesthetic
• Educational services
• Recreation & tourism
• Social capital

Question 18

Health & well-being benefits

Benefit
Description
Examples

Psychological & cognitive -
Positive effect on mental processes, behaviour & cognitive ability or function
- Psychological well-being
-Attention restoration
-Decreased depression, stress, frustration, anger, aggression
-Increased self-esteem, improved mood
-Increased happiness, calmness, creativity
-Reduced mental fatigue
-Improved academic performance

Answer 18

Physiological

• Positive effect on physical function and/or physical health
• Better general health
• Reduced illness / mortality / blood pressure / heart rate
• Increased longevity
• Reduced inflammatory disease & intestinal disorders
• Reduced pre-term births
• Faster healing

Question 19

Social science survey instruments

Recruitment/ delivery methods
• Face to face (site or
• door-to-door)
• Online
• Postal

Factors
• Bias: interest &
socio-demographics 
• Sample size
• Labour intensity 
• Cost
• Duration 
• Targeted groups

Response rates

Answer 19

Designing Questions

Rule 1: Non-leading questions
‘is conservation important?’
‘what are your views on conservation?’

Rule 2: Decide on qualitative versus quantitative questions

Qualitative: open-ended, rich data, useful when limited understanding of the system, more difficult to analyse
e.g. Why don’t you participate in higher level stewardship?

Quantitative: closed questions, less rich data, but easier to analyse, often Likert scale (strongly agree…strongly disagree)
e.g. Insufficient financial rewards limit my participation in higher level stewardship

Rule 3: Use non-technical language

Rule 4: Pilot!

Question 20

Additional techniques

Focus groups:

Encourage discussion & feedback Useful for initial exploration Careful management

Semi-structured interviews:
Conversational & discursive
Useful when people cautious/wary of officials

evidence and opportunities Frontiers Ecol & Environment 16, 159-168
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee. 1777

Answer 20

Social science survey
instruments

Which instrument (questionnaire, focus group etc.)? How select respondents?
4-5 questions
IUCN Near-threatened
UK biggest terrestrial avian conservation issue

Sedge management – 2 options with different time implications: a) physical control
b) herbicide rags
Issues/data needed:
Perceived effectiveness Costs of action
Indirect costs on profits

Question 21

Summary

Reading list
Carter et al 2014 Coupled human and natural systems approach to wildlife research and conservation Ecology and Society 19(3), 43
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art43/

Byerly et al. 2018 Nudging pro‐environmental behavior: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee. 1777

Answer 21

Ultimately conservation depends on changing human attitudes, values and behaviour
Social science is crucial for achieving this, but is not easy Education rarely sufficient in isolation to change behaviour
People don’t base decisions entirely on financial implications
Need to use combination of financial and contextual interventions to nudge human behaviour

Question 22

1 Consider other approaches to increase conservation support:
• Co-design & community based natural resource management
• Reframing conservation goals to appeal more widely

2 Consider wider debates in conservation regarding these methods

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
17 goals
Arose from Millennium Development Goals

171 studies in 165 PAs
Protected areas associated with positive socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to report
positive conservation outcomes. Positive conservation and socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to occur when PAs adopted co-management regimes, empowered local people, reduced economic inequalities, and maintained cultural and livelihood benefits.

Land sharing versus land sparing
Intensification & bees
ON - Organic near to natural areas
OF - Organic far from natural areas
CF - Conventional far from natural areas
Amount required for producing marketable fruit
Kremen C et al. 2002 PNAS 99, 16812-16816

SDGs: 167 targets & 230 indicators
15.7 Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products
15.7.1 Proportion of traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked
15.c Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities
15.c.1 Proportionof traded wildlife that was poached or illicitly trafficked
9 indicators repeat for 2 or more targets
SDGs: 167 targets & 230 indicators

Answer 22

Co-design conservation solutions
Imposing ideas/regulations can create resentment and reduce compliance
Issues greatest when social or ethnic differences between ‘rule’ creators and receivers
Preferable to work together to co-design workable solutions that take advantage of local knowledge and increase trust and mutual understanding? 15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
15.1.1 Forest area as a proportion of total land area
15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
Covered by PAs – measuring a policy not the outcome of the policy

Question 23

Co-design: e.g. albatross bycatch

2004: 19 of 22 spp IUCN red list 100,000
albatrosses killed per year

Answer 23

Bait loss to birds = no catch
• Tori lines
• Line weighting – double weighting
• Night setting
99% by-catch reduction in South Africa 7 out of 10 fisheries use methods
4 species removed from IUCN red list

Question 24

CBNRM – community based natural resource management

Arose in 1980s
Community decision making facilitated by conservationists = co-design

Equitable access to natural resources and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods

Answer 24

Joint conservation and non-conservation goals

Mixed outcomes but can be highly successful

Question 25

Lion guardians: citizen science & CBNRM

Tsavo/Amboseli area 4,000km2
Trained (& paid!) to track lions & collate scientific data

Proportion known uncollared lions

Mean number lions/month
Lion home range (km2)

Mean number obs. predations/month

Answer 25

“The program has increased our status in the community because we are now literate. With our GPS and scientific forms, it has placed us in a different league.”

“Lion Guardians has given us the opportunity to gain formal, gainful employment. It has helped us as individuals and known lion killers, saved us from a life behind bars.”

• Recovery of $1,000,000 worth of lost livestock
• Reinforced over 300 corrals
• Found 20 lost child herders
• Stopped 47 lion hunts by other warriors

Question 26

CBNRM and complexity

Also migration, environmental degradation

Complexity makes it increasingly difficult for CBNRM to operate

Answer 26

CBNRM: disconnect between twin goals

Yarsagumba fungus
World Pheasant

Association: Pipar Project, Annapurna

Constant re-evaluation of community needs

Horizon scanning of possible disruption

Adapt community benefits accordingly

Question 27

Re-framing conservation for wider appeal

Answer 27

• Cf. this ‘carrot’ approach with the ‘stick’ of punishing environmental wrongdoing
• Ecosystem services vs. other values
• Merge conservation with other objectives e.g. Sustainable Development Goals

Question 28

Effective punishment?

Are financial fines effective for punishing non-compliance with environmental regulations?

Framing conservation as ecosystem services
Promotion of ecosystem services does not always
effectively conserve biodiversity
But can promote win-wins

Naidoo et al 2008

Answer 28

Meta-analysis of 100 large bodied species targeted for luxury markets - poaching fines have little effect on extinction risk need to be 10x to 100x higher McClenachan et al. 2016 Current Biology 26, 1640-46
Level of fines collected too low to limit deforestation in
southern Amazon
Sousa 2016 Forests 7, 3 DOI: 10.3390/f7030066
Effective punishment?
Gneezy and Rustichini 2000
Fines can be interpreted as permit to ‘behave badly’
UK landfill tax: dis-incentivised waste recovery & discouraged investment in separation technologies, so incentivises landfill!
Fletcher 2018 Resources Conservation & Recycling 138, 160-171

Question 29

Framing conservation as ecosystem services
United Utilities – moorland restoration 57,000 ha; 30% SSSI
Influences water quality (colour & turbidity)
Moorland and peatbog restoration
Now 94% of SSSI in favourable condition; baseline 14% (Peak District) Improved water colour & turbidity

Answer 29

Framing conservation as ecosystem services
Ecosystem services focus attracts four times as much funding thanks to three times as much corporate attention
Goldman et al 2008
Study mimics fund- raising materials

Question 30

But public responses differ…

Goff et al., 2017 Study mimics fund-raising materials

Control - natural resource depletion
Treatment - natural resource plus ecosystem service financial evaluation
Assess donations to 3 US conservation bodies

Answer 30

Mean individual donations in US dollars are more with control than with treatment

Question 31

Connecting conservation to human values using ecosystem services

Chan et al (2017) suggest reframing the ecosystem services argument in terms of justice and identities

Answer 31

Ecological or socioeconomic success three times more likely if connecting to intrinsic human values
Relatively few conservation initiatives connect to intrinsic values for biodiversity or other values
Cetas & Yasue 2017 Conservation Biology 31, 203-212

e.g. air pollution campaign
Air pollution: UK government loses third court case as plans ruled ‘unlawful’
High court says approach to tackling pollution in 45 local authority areas is ‘not sufficient’ and orders urgent changes

Question 32

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Some elements are unrealistic & difficult to measure progress Major focus of international agendas

Ambitious & merge human development & conservation

Answer 32

conservation
‘A powerful but chimeric movement is rapidly gaining recognition and supporters.’

‘Christened the “new conservation,” it promotes economic development, poverty alleviation […] as […]substitutes for endangered species listings, protected areas, and other mainstream conservation tools.’

‘Its goal is to supplant the biological diversity–based model of traditional conservation with something entirely different, an economic growth–based or humanitarian movement, [so] it does not deserve to be labelled conservation.’

Soule 2013 Conservation Biology 27, 895-897

Question 33

‘New’ vs ‘true’ conservation

discrediting new approaches to conservation are troubling especially when there is waning support….. need new tools

protected areas […]will continue to be a cornerstone of conservation, but alone are not enough […] species extinction rates remain unacceptably high

Answer 33

conservation must benefit the poorest not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is imperative for conservation effectiveness

e.g. the world’s largest tropical PA is at risk of having its protected status revoked because 2 of its 5 communities were not consulted prior to its creation in 2002

Marvier 2014 Conservation Biology 28, 1-3

Question 34

Summary

Answer 34

Co-design principles enshrined in CBNRM are often key to effective conservation in areas with significant human activity

Increasing complexity makes CBNRM increasingly difficult

Re-framing conservation in terms of ESs can be effective, but depends on target audience

Emphasising links to human justice & ‘development’ goes further – can be effective but is controversial

Reading list
Soule 2013 The “new conservation” Conservation Biology 27, 895-897
Marvier 2014 New conservation is true conservation Conservation Biology 28, 1-3