The culture of bird conservation: Australian stakeholder values regarding iconic,flagship and rare birds

Iconic, flagship and rare threatened bird taxa attract disproportionate amounts of public attention, and are often used to enable broader conservation strategies. Yet, little is known about why certain taxa achieve iconic or flagship status. Also unclear is whether the perception of rarity among those acting to conserve threatened birds is sufficient to influence attitudes and behaviour that lead to effective conservation action and, if so, which characteristics of rare birds are important to their conservation. We interviewed 74 threatened bird conservation stakeholders to explore perceptions about iconic, flagship and rare threatened birds and classified their attitudes using a new typology of avifaunal attitudes. There was a relationship between societal interest and conservation effort for threatened species characterised as iconic, flagship and rare. Iconic species tended to arouse interest or emotion in people due to being appealing and readily encountered, thereby attracting conservation interest that can benefit other biodiversity. Flagships tended to have distinguishing physical or cultural characteristics and were used to convey conservation messages about associated biodiversity. Attitudes about rarity mostly related to a taxon’s threatened status and small population size. Rarity was important for threatened bird conservation but not always associated with attitudes and behaviour that lead to effective conservation action. We conclude that conservation action for individual threatened bird taxa is biased and directly influenced by the ways taxa are socially constructed by stakeholders, which is specific to prevailing culture and stakeholder knowledge.     

Reconciling scientific and local ecological knowledge to identify priority mammals for conservation in a dry forest area in northeast Brazil

Species prioritization for conservation is primarily based on extinction risk assessments but less on sociocultural factors that influence conservation effectiveness. Here, we prioritized mammals for conservation according to their need for conservation attention, the feasibility of their conservation, and their potential to be used as flagship species in a rural community in northeast Brazil. We assessed species occurrence and ethnobiology through interviews, camera trapping, and active searches, and developed a prioritization scheme that accounts for species’ threat level (conservation status and local hunting pressure), cultural importance, and popularity. We found Tolypeutes tricinctus as the overall top-priority species because of its Endangered status and high popularity, which makes its conservation needed and feasible, and this species a potential conservation flagship. Panthera onca was the highest priority regarding the need for conservation attention due to its Critically Endangered status but the least feasible to conserve as it was the most unpopular species. Mazama gouazoubira was the most hunted and popular species. Despite not being threatened, it may also be prioritized for conservation, given its high hunting pressure and popularity, thereby constituting a possible local flagship species. Our results show that priority species for conservation can be reliably identified based on measures of need for conservation attention and expected conservation feasibility in local scales using rapid assessments. Accounting for ethnobiology in species prioritization for conservation allows a better understanding of the needs, opportunities, and obstacles for their conservation, consequently leading to better resource-allocation decisions in different socio-economic scenarios.     

Mobilizing metaphors: the popular use of keystone,flagship and umbrella species concepts

Misrepresentation of terminology is a major impediment for attempts at enhancing public conservation literacy. Despite being critically important for improving conservation practice, there have been few systematic analyses of the popular use of conservation terminology. This paper draws from science communication studies and metaphor analysis, to examine how keystone, flagship and umbrella species concepts are used and represented in non-academic contexts. 557 news articles containing these terms were systematically analyzed. Mammals featured in 60% of articles on keystones, 55% on flagships and 63% on umbrella species. Number of articles explaining the terms keystone (35%) and flagship (31%) was low, and keystones were the most misrepresented term. Keystones were metaphorically linked with balance, flagships with representation and umbrella species with protection. These metaphors influenced public interpretation of scientific terminology, oriented actions towards select species, and led to a valuation of such actions. Together, the findings highlight three important aspects of popular use of conservation terminology: (1) communication is largely biased towards mammals, (2) everyday language plays a vital role in the interpretation of concepts, and (3) metaphors influence peoples’ actions and understanding. Conservation biologists need to engage with issues of language if public conservation literacy is to be improved. Further evaluations of concepts with high public and policy relevance, systematic identification of communication shortfalls, and linguistic assessments prior to promoting new terms are potential ways of achieving this.     

Dimensions of the Human–Animal Bond and Evacuation Decisions among Pet Owners during Hurricane Ike

ABSTRACT

Flagship species play an important role in promoting nature conservation. However, although the significance of invertebrates in biodiversity and ecosystem services is undisputed, they are rarely used as flagship species. A focused approach to better understand the drivers of differences in attitudes toward invertebrates, and insects in particular, would be helpful for selecting and establishing insects as flagship species, especially in a local context for local conservation purposes. Using a standard questionnaire, a total of 363 children, predominantly aged 10 to 12 years, were asked about their attitudes toward 18 invertebrate species indigenous to Switzerland. The species, 14 insect species and four other invertebrates, were individually presented in a color photograph without any background information. Based on ordinal regression models, the survey revealed substantial affinity rating differences across the invertebrates selected. Gender, species knowledge, preferred leisure activities, and family membership of a nature protection organization proved to be significant predictors for children's attitudes in general, and for some specific species in particular. Additionally, existing species knowledge was analyzed and was found to neither depend on school location (urban/rural) nor on gender. The authors propose the inclusion of local invertebrates and species knowledge in the curriculum in early years at primary school while applying teaching methods that allow for real-life experience.     

Australia’s vanishing fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera): a case study in methods for the assessment and conservation of threatened flea species

While invertebrate conservation is attracting increased funding and interest, research remains heavily skewed towards ‘flagship’ insect groups like bees and butterflies. This has resulted in a knowledge gap relating to less popular but equally imperilled groups like fleas. Methods for the risk assessment of host specific parasites were used to determine the conservation status of all host specific flea species distributed in Australia. The results indicated one species apparently extinct, two critically endangered, two endangered, and three vulnerable. Based on these results, novel methods for the conservation of threatened fleas are outlined, including the concepts of holistic conservation and the cryptic loss effect.     

Conservation education program for threatened Asian horseshoe crabs: A step towards reducing community apathy to environmental conservation

Long-term and locally-based public education programs are essential in supporting conservation initiatives for horseshoe crab protection, particularly in Asia, where their populations have been largely exploited for food and biomedical applications. However, the implementation of such conservation initiatives can be difficult due to a community’s ingrained apathy towards the environment. In addition, the effectiveness of similar education programs to engage the community in conservation work has rarely been assessed. We described the implementation strategies of a conservation education program in Hong Kong, with the objective to improve the community’s awareness, engagement and environmental attitudes towards the conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs. This study evaluated the program’s outreach, outcomes and impacts between 2009 and 2016. By raising laboratory-cultured juvenile horseshoe crabs at local secondary schools, this long-term conservation education program succeeded in enhancing students’ knowledge on the biology and ecology of horseshoe crabs, as well as promoting positive attitudes and behaviors towards relevant conservation issues. Lessons and recommendations derived from this program can serve as guidance for similar campaigns in other places.     

What determines attitude of local people towards tiger and leopard in Nepal?

Understanding attitude of local people towards big cats is vital for conservation interventions to succeed. Taking tigers and leopards as focal species, we investigated local peoples' attitude towards four subjects—tiger, tiger conservation, leopard, and leopard conservation—considering demographic and socio-economic factors as well as past experience with such predators in Nepal's first national park and a world heritage site, Chitwan National Park. The data were collected from 414 local people using structured questionnaires and their attitude towards the four subjects determined. We performed ordinal logistic regression analysis to identify the best fitted model and significant variables affecting attitudes. While majority of the people (51%) strongly liked tigers, fewer people (38%) had similar view while it came to leopard. However, a greater proportion of people strongly agreed that the conservation of tigers (61%) and leopards (53%) is important. About 12% people had negative attitude towards both big cats. We found women and low income respondents to likely have negative attitudes and higher caste Hindus to have positive attitudes towards both big cats and their conservation. Better educated persons and the owners to larger herds of livestock only agreed on conservation of tiger but not leopard. Past experience with the predator negatively affected attitude towards tiger but not leopard. We suggest the identified cohort of people with negative attitudes be more targeted in conservation initiatives. The reasons behind the similarities and differences in peoples’ attitudes are discussed and designation of species-specific programmes for both cats is recommended.     

Naturalistic Exhibits May be More Effective Than Traditional Exhibits at Improving Zoo-Visitor Attitudes toward African Apes

Zoos play a unique role in wildlife conservation, particularly in the area of conservation education. Because of their popularity and flagship status for broader conservation issues, great apes may prove to be one of the most important educational conduits in zoos. In 2002, we surveyed knowledge of and attitudes toward African apes in visitors to the Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House (GAH) at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL, USA. In the current study, we replicated the survey to document attitudes to and knowledge of the newly renovated and naturalistic Regenstein Center for African Apes (RCAA) and compared results. We found RCAA was no more effective than GAH in increasing visitor knowledge about apes, although visitors answered more questions correctly upon exit than on entrance in both buildings. We did find, however, that RCAA was more effective than GAH at improving visitor attitudes toward chimpanzees. Specifically, upon exiting, RCAA visitors showed increased naturalistic attitudes and reduced utilitarian attitudes toward chimpanzees. Exhibiting apes in naturalistic settings may therefore be an effective way to increase visitor concern for apes in nature and in zoos. Zoos and aquariums investing in new, naturalistic ape exhibits with the aim to educate about, provide emotional connections to, improve attitudes toward, and ultimately increase conservation of apes, need to then critically evaluate whether the actual effect of the designed environment on visitors—above and beyond intended benefits for the animals—is commensurate with the investment. The broader impacts of even small shifts in visitor attitude in the right direction could be significant. These findings may vary across species and settings, however, and should be assessed accordingly.     

Changing attitudes towards British mammals

This century has seen major changes in the composition of the British mammal fauna and the abundance of many species, but attitudes towards mammals have changed significantly only relatively recently. The influence of the Mammal Society, popular books, conservation campaigns, radio and television are considered. The passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is identified as a turning point and major catalyst in developing new and positive attitudes, especially towards bats. Attitudes of an essentially urban public towards animals are increasingly unrelated to questions of economic utility and are becoming more paternalistic and protective. They also foster popular campaigns to ban blood sports which need careful appraisal because saving individuals of some common species may lead to loss of whole populations of others as a result of habitat changes.     

An overview of commercial fishers’ attitudes towards marine protected areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are attracting widespread attention worldwide as a tool for fishery management and marine ecosystem conservation. The establishment of MPAs has increased greatly in recent years mostly due to international commitments to the establishment of a global network of MPAs by 2012. MPAs have the potential to strongly affect the fishing industry, and their success depends, at least partly, on fishers’ attitudes towards this management measure. However, research on MPAs tends to focus on the ecological and conservation aspects of this management approach and not on its human dimensions. Studies in attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and preferences related to MPA issues have been identified as priority social science topics in need of research. We present a ‘rapid review’, conducted systematically, of the literature published up to September 2009 and aimed at identifying the most investigated topics related to commercial fishers’ attitudes towards MPAs, describing the main findings from these studies, and analysing the implications for management. Most published work focuses on fishers’ attitudes towards issues of governance, conservation of biodiversity and the environment, and the impact of MPAs on fishing activity. Despite the recent increase in the literature on the human dimensions of MPAs, the present review reveals that little of this literature originates from empirical studies. Hence, given the forthcoming increase in the implementation of MPAs in the near future, research on fishers’ attitudes towards these management measures is critically needed.     

Positive sentiment and knowledge increase tolerance towards conservation actions

People generally possess certain basic ideas and values towards biodiversity, influencing their personal evaluation of a conservation situation or action and their attitude towards nature and its conservation. Here, we apply knowledge on human attitudes to an interesting socio-ecological system, the case of mitigating the devastating infectious amphibian disease chytridiomycosis in the Pyrenean Mountains, a touristic region. We conducted a questionnaire survey directly in mountain areas (n = 418) and on the internet (n = 868) to investigate whether attitudes towards amphibians influenced support of five possible conservation actions. We further analyzed whether attitudes were influenced by peoples’ use of the mountains, their socio-economic backgrounds, and their general knowledge of amphibians. Our study shows that all but one conservation measure were well accepted by the public. Importantly, the restrictions people would accept were linked to the attitudes the respondents had towards amphibians and how informed they were regarding the current status of amphibians. Our study highlights the importance of ensuring sufficient education and information for the public and suggests that it is necessary to explore and discuss several conservation options with the public before implementing conservation measures that may not be perceived equally.     

Biodiversity gains from efficient use of private sponsorship for flagship species conservation

To address the global extinction crisis, both efficient use of existing conservation funding and new sources of funding are vital. Private sponsorship of charismatic ‘flagship’ species conservation represents an important source of new funding, but has been criticized as being inefficient. However, the ancillary benefits of privately sponsored flagship species conservation via actions benefiting other species have not been quantified, nor have the benefits of incorporating such sponsorship into objective prioritization protocols. Here, we use a comprehensive dataset of conservation actions for the 700 most threatened species in New Zealand to examine the potential biodiversity gains from national private flagship species sponsorship programmes. We find that private funding for flagship species can clearly result in additional species and phylogenetic diversity conserved, via conservation actions shared with other species. When private flagship species funding is incorporated into a prioritization protocol to preferentially sponsor shared actions, expected gains can be more than doubled. However, these gains are consistently smaller than expected gains in a hypothetical scenario where private funding could be optimally allocated among all threatened species. We recommend integrating private sponsorship of flagship species into objective prioritization protocols to sponsor efficient actions that maximize biodiversity gains, or wherever possible, encouraging private donations for broader biodiversity goals.     

Attitudes of local people towards the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) in Munessa,Ethiopia

Due to their direct dependence on wildlife products for subsistent use, people living in poverty are often viewed as being in conflict with wildlife conservation. We studied the attitudes of local people towards mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) in Munessa, Ethiopia. A household survey (n = 214) was used to examine the socio‐economic characteristics and beliefs of local people from three peasant associations and one village. Generally, the study revealed that local people had positive attitudes towards mountain nyala, its conservation and population increase, which is consistent with our predictions. For example, a greater percentage of the respondents had positive (62.5%) rather than negative (37.5%) attitudes towards mountain nyala and its conservation. Moreover, the larger proportion of the respondents had positive (66.67%) rather than negative (33.3%) attitudes towards an increase in mountain nyala population. However, compared to socio‐economic characteristics, beliefs towards mountain nyala were more powerful and consistent predictor of attitudes and explained much of the variances of the two groups of the dependent variables. Thus, informing local communities about the value of mountain nyala (e.g. recreational and economic) through conservation education, advocating the need for sustainable utilization and introducing an economic benefit sharing may improve positive attitude and increase participation of local people in conservation and management of the mountain nyala population in Munessa.     

Conservation priorities for elementary school students: Neotropical and European perspectives

Nature conservation can only be an efficient process if involving different society actors, especially those that have long-term and multiplying effects on how society relates with nature, such as children/students. To delineate nature conservation strategies, we need to understand the drivers that shape peoples’ behaviors and attitudes towards nature; for students this is mostly determined by their past experience and influence of their socio-economic and familiar context. To test these assumptions, we develop a study focused on elementary school students from Portugal and Brazil. In each country we selected two student’s groups representing two distinct socio-environmental contexts: rural and urban populations. Based on a written questionnaire, we aimed at understanding the effect of parental and socio-environmental contexts, gender, prior contact with nature and online news-associated environmental information, on how students prioritize taxa to be conserved. Furthermore, we analyzed how health, economic and touristic values constrain pro-conservation attitudes. Students from urban areas and from Portugal showed a lower probability of having a pro-conservation attitude. Brazilian and rural students may have a more frequent contact with nature and live in regions of higher biodiversity, two factors that may act synergistically to produce those patterns. Positive attitudes towards conservation seem to be over-ruled by health (i.e. self-preservation) and economical (i.e. financial subsistence) interests and values. Moreover, students prioritize for conservation species that are commonly mentioned in the online news, particularly mammals, and plants. Acknowledging that students rank higher health and economical values over conservation ones, as well as the perceptible importance of contacting with nature and the apparent relevance of online news as information vehicles, may increase the chances of improving the efficacy of nature conservation strategies. Furthermore, this information can lead to an improvement of environmental awareness and literacy.     

Instructional Integration of Disciplines for Promoting Children’s Positive Attitudes Towards Plants

Plants are an integral part of nature. Many plant species in almost any part of the world are under serious threats due to various reasons such as deforestation, pollution–of air, water and soil–caused by industrialisation, overgrazing and rapid population growth. It is likely that people have strong positive attitudes towards conservation of plants. This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional approach based on integration of botany with chemistry and art on students’ attitude towards plants. This study was carried out in a science summer school for 10–12-years-old students (N = 49) in Turkey. The Plant Attitude Questionnaire was used as pre-test and post-test to assess the effects of the instruction on the students’ attitudes towards plants. Moreover, the participating children were asked to keep journals throughout the instruction. The children’s journals served as a data collection tool. The findings of the study indicated that integration of botany with chemistry and art is a good way to support children’s positive attitudes towards plants, particularly for an instructional approach based on the integration of plants with various disciplines to support children’s interest and enjoyment of plants. Also, this approach could offer children opportunities to understand the importance of plants in the living environments of humans and other organisms, and material benefits from plants in industry.     

Selecting flagships for invertebrate conservation

Invertebrates have a low public profile and are seriously underrepresented in global conservation efforts. The promotion of flagship species is one way to generate interest in invertebrate conservation. Butterflies are frequently labeled invertebrate flagships, but clear definitions of the conservation actions they are meant to catalyze, and empirical assessments of their popularity amongst non-Western audiences are lacking. To improve the use of invertebrate flagships, we examine how butterflies compare with other taxa in terms of popularity. We then identify characteristics of individual species that are appealing and explore whether these may be used to derive a set of guidelines for selecting invertebrate flagships. We conducted questionnaire-based surveys amongst two target audiences: rural residents (n = 255) and tourists (n = 105) in northeast India. Invertebrates that were aesthetically appealing, or those that provided material benefits or ecological services were liked. Butterflies were the most popular group for both audiences, followed by dragonflies, honeybees and earthworms. A combination of large size and bright colours led to high popularity of individual species, whilst butterflies with unique features were liked by tourists but not rural residents. These results provide empirical evidence that butterflies appeal to diverse audiences and have the potential to be deployed as flagships in different contexts. However, prior to promoting invertebrate flagships, their intended uses need to be specified. Here we define an invertebrate flagship as an invertebrate species or group that resonates with a target audience and stimulates awareness, funding, research and policy support for the conservation of invertebrate diversity. In conclusion we outline a set of heuristic guidelines for selecting flagships to raise awareness of invertebrate diversity and conservation.     

Expressing citizen preferences on endangered wildlife for building socially appealing species recovery policies: A stated preference experiment in Quebec,Canada

Over the past fifty years, the world's wildlife populations have drastically declined. This stems from multiple causes, including the loss of natural habitat, which plays a vital role. Effective strategies to help endangered wildlife species recovery requires broad public support to be politically viable. In this study, we conducted a randomized survey to elicit and describe the Quebec population’s preferences and concerns regarding endangered wildlife and estimate its willingness-to-pay (WTP) for their recovery. We used stated preference approaches, namely a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best-worst scaling (BWS), to estimate WTP and rank respondent preferences towards categories of wildlife species and recovery program attributes. In the selection of animals listed, results also reveal strong public preferences for large mammals, more specifically the beluga whale and woodland caribou. Simulation exercises from our DCE results show that a quarter of respondents would be willing to pay $160 per year for a megafauna recovery program compared to $12 for birds, or insects, or fish and molluscs recovery programs. Despite respondents’ strong preferences for the protection of megafauna, BWS and DCE simulation results indicate that a broader multispecies approach would be favoured by a larger segment of the population than a single specie approach. The survey results also revealed that the public likes to spend time in nature and is both concerned about endangered wildlife and aware of the interdependence between humans and nature. Therefore, our findings suggest that policymakers have a social acceptance to use both flagship species and multispecies approaches to implement endangered species recovery strategies. Moreover, our findings and the related literature on the value of ecosystem services indicate that communication on wildlife conservation could be buttressed by emphasizing conservation’s contributions to ecosystem services.     

Effects of Having Pets at Home on Children's Attitudes toward Popular and Unpopular Animals

ABSTRACT

Having pets at home provides various social, health, and educational benefits to children. The question of how keeping pets at home affects the attitudes of children toward wild animals still has not been answered, due to various methodological issues, such as ignorance of some attitude dimensions and/or questionnaires that include items focused on very different animals. We conducted three independent research surveys (using three independent samples) of Slovakian primary school children aged 10 to 15 years (n = 1297). These surveys focused on the effects of keeping pets on the attitudes of children towards, and knowledge of, three unpopular animals in Slovakia. These animals were pests (potato beetle) (Study 1), predators (wolf) (Study 2), and those that pose a threat of disease to humans (mouse) (Study 3). Each survey also included a popular animal (ladybird beetle, rabbit, and squirrel, respectively), which served as a “control”; these were compared by pair-wise statistics. Results consistently showed that children had better knowledge of, but less favorable attitudes towards, unpopular animals compared with popular ones. Having pets at home was associated with more positive attitudes to, and better knowledge of, both popular and unpopular animals. Girls were less favorably inclined than boys to animals that may pose a threat, danger, or disease to them. Implications for humane education are discussed, especially in terms of keeping pets, the link between knowledge and attitudes, and children's understanding of ecological adaptations.     

Do attitudes expressed in surveys predict ethnic discrimination?

Survey data on people’s reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities are sometimes used as a proxy for ethnic discrimination. However, there is weak empirical evidence of a link between reported attitudes and discrimination. In this article, we use survey data on people’s attitudes towards ethnic minorities combined with a direct measure of ethnic discrimination from a field experiment in the Swedish housing market to re-examine this policy-relevant issue. We find clear evidence of a link between reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities and the extent of ethnic discrimination: in regions where attitudes are more negative, there is more discrimination, and vice versa. Thus, in contrast to most prior studies, our results suggest that reported attitudes may be a useful predictor of ethnic discrimination.     

Nature conservation from a Junior High School perspective

Nature conservation has a higher probability of being successful when it is backed by public support. This is influenced by knowledge and values, many of which may derive from school curricula, experiments and activities. We implemented a study in a Portuguese Junior High School aiming to evaluate: (1) which factors influence how people subscribe reasons for conserving nature; (2) the criteria used to identify conservation priority species; and, (3) the proposed recovery measures for priority species. A survey of 91 students in a suburban area revealed that nature conservation was regarded as being more important than tourism or industry, but less than values related to public health. Students who have close contacts with wildlife and whose parents have higher education levels exhibited positive attitudes towards nature conservation, which seems to derive from exposure to information related to nature, in their home environment. The criteria chosen to identify conservation priority species and to select appropriate conservation measures indicate that they are likely to be influenced by the media. These results emphasise that the relationship between parental education levels and access to information is an important factor in shaping urban students’ attitudes towards nature conservation.