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Discounted knowledges: Farmers' and residents' understandings of nature conservation goals and policies
Abstract
Local Biodiversity Action Plans are the preferred policy mechanism for setting and delivering local biodiversity targets in the UK. This paper reviews the kind of knowledge conservation scientists envisage being used to identify and set local targets, and explores the means of incorporating local knowledge into this process. We use a case study of a Wildlife Enhancement Scheme (WES) on the Pevensey Levels, East Sussex, to reveal the understandings that local farmers and residents have of the nature conservation goals and practices associated with the scheme. Drawing on the findings of in-depth discussion groups, we show how farmers challenge both the monopoly of knowledge conservationists profess about nature, and the enlistment of farmers on the scheme as «technicians», motivated solely by financial rewards, rather than as knowledgeable experts who also have emotional attachments and ethical values for nature. Local people use their knowledge of both local farmers, and the industry in general, to challenge the assumption that farmers can be trusted with delivering nature conservation goals. In the absence of a commitment by central government to agree widely-held environmental standards, and a more democratic process of making judgements about what local nature is worth conserving, local residents challenge existing processes designed to conserve nature that are driven by the knowledge and practices of official experts alone. The findings of the study suggest that a widening of the knowledge base on which the goals and practices of nature conservation are founded, and a more deliberative process of making decisions about what nature is important locally, will secure and strengthen public support for local biodiversity action plans.1998 Academic Press
... Erosion mitigation and control Choice for organic farming Tybirk et al. (2004) General soil improvement or sustaining Use of manure Ingram (2008) Reduced tillage IV Choice for organic farming Tybirk et al. (2003) Soil quality assessement Good soil defined by soil biota Wahlhütter et al. (2016) Identity Productors of food on healthy soils as defining good farmers Soil conservation practices Home et al. (2018) Building local identity as farmers Maintain fertilization-free lands and pastures (tradition) Harrison et al. (1998) Soil state and soil management as supports of farmer identity in the farming community ...
... Ethical responsibility Fertilization management Kaltoft (1999) Limit CO2 emissions Reduced tillage Pollution risk control Use of liquid manure for more control Kaltoft (1999) Avoid leaching (e.g., nitrogen) Sattler and Jens Nagel (2010) Responsibility towards the neighbors to avoid erosion AEM adoption to diversify cultures on soil Boardman et al. (2017) A way of life to be preserved and transmitted, indirectly leading to nature conservation No fertilization ; Pastures maintained and not cultivated Harrison et al. (1998) V Appendix 3 | IFE (Investigated Framework Elements) refer to the components of the framework (Fig. 1) that framed data collection and analysis. Research sub-questions structured our analysis but they were not directly asked to the farmers. ...
If politics wish agriculture to more broadly build on soil biota and biodiversity, and seek to put forward its crucial role for farming activities, it is necessary to know how farmers themselves come to value soil organisms. Pragmatism conceives values as what matters, practically, to people. This thesis seeks to characterize values associated with soils and their biota by European farmers, to determine the conditions for such valuations and to investigate publicization processes about soil biodiversity inagriculture. Interviews and literature analysis stressed the plurality of values at stake in farmers’ soil management decisions. Values appeared to be dynamic across space and time since they rely on situations of valuations that depend themselves upon various local territorial characteristics. The “Valuating Milieu” concept allowed to emphasize the importance of experimentation sharing and debates on theformation of values and on the legitimation of management practices. Multiples sources may transfer knowledge about soil biodiversity to farmers but the topic remains often marginal and unlinked to management practices. Conceiving valuations as dynamic opens offers the opportunity to investigate and to challenge the way below-ground life is considered in our societies. The formation of values associated with soil biota requires to develop spaces where a real public can form and collectively debate on what is sought from and for European soils and the huge biodiversity they host.
... Fox (2012) did, however, identify that for some landowners it does not matter what economic incentives there might be, they simply do not wish to plant trees. This resistance is supported by older studies by (Bateman 1996;Harrison et al. 1998;Bell 1999). This mindset among the farming communities may have strong cultural and community roots and may be a question of personal values, preferences and sense of place. ...
... Factor 2 fits well within (Eves et al. 2013 (Eves et al. 2013) suggest that it is the most important incentive. This has, however, been challenged by many (Bateman 1996;Harrison et al. 1998;Stubbs 2011;Morgan-Davies et al. 2012;Bell 2014;Mann 2018 2. The findings from our study offer insights that are relevant to policy makers within woodland creation and tree planting on a broader scale. This is clearly a topic which is strongly fuelled by feelings, emotions, past experiences and values, especially within stakeholders belonging to Factor 1 ('Not enough is done to protect the environment') and Factor 2 ('Changing the landscape is changing us'). ...
Upland regions in the UK are increasingly under consideration as potential areas for the creation of woodlands. This is driven by a combination of factors, including the aims of UK forestry policy to increase woodland cover, changes in current upland land-use and management, agro-environment schemes in national and international policy and an increasing public awareness of the ecosystem service benefits landscapes can deliver for society. Creating new woodlands in upland areas is challenging, partly due to concerns of the potential impacts from a change in land use and also due to stakeholder perspectives. This research carries out a rapid TESSA ecosystem services assessment of a 250km2 grass dominated and sheep grazed Cumbrian (England) upland landscape and applies plausible alternative woodland creation scenarios of woodland cover percentages. The assessment focusses on changes these scenarios will deliver in terms of key ecosystem goods and services, which are identified by stakeholders to be of high importance to the study area. The results indicate that, under lower woodland percentage scenarios, no drawbacks and only benefits on all indicators are expected. However, a more complex outcome would be expected from the higher percentage woodland scenarios. The research furthermore adds a qualitative element to the overall understanding, by carrying out a Q-methodology investigation of stakeholder perspectives of upland woodland creation. The findings suggest that stakeholder perspectives are a powerful influence in upland woodland creation. The two components of research methods applied to the study complement each other and offer a greater understanding of this complex topic and identify barriers and opportunities for woodland creation in the uplands of Cumbria.
... Table 2 Value conflicts between farmer and other rural land manager values and CREP rules. The first column lists the valued relationship based on the conceptual framework in Fig. 1 (2) Neat and tidy aesthetics X X (Nassauer, 1995;Nassauer et al., 2009;Burton, 2012) Farmer to land (1) Active land management X X (Burton, 2004;Carlisle, 2013;Cronon, 1996;Marris, 2011) Farmer to land (1) Application of parcel specific knowledge X X ( Cash et al., 2006;Harrison et al., 1998;Millar and Curtis, 1999;Schneider et al., 2010;Tsouvalis, et al., 2000) Community to landscape (3) Knowledge from farming community X X X (Nesbitt and Weiner, 2001;Gareau, 2007;Sayre, 2006) Community to landscape (3) Agency over landscape X X X (Walker and Fortmann, 2003;McCarthy, 2007;Smith, 2003) Some of these aesthetic concerns were practical. For example, when working with machinery the curving lines of a river (that a buffer would normally follow) are difficult to maneuver. ...
... The farmer themselves, however, is excluded from making these choices when enrolled in CREP. Farmer's knowledge is often contextual, practice-based, and integrated with their identity, way of life and community; this may appear at odds with seemingly inflexible prescriptions of experts (Schneider et al., 2010;Harrison et al., 1998;Cash et al., 2006;Millar and Curtis, 1999;Tsouvalis et al., 2000). In a variety of conservation contexts, local peoples' knowledge may be overridden by that of outside 'experts' or politicized via externally imposed programs (West, 2006;Gareau, 2007;Shepherd, 2010;Pfeffer et al., 2001). ...
Agri-environmental incentive programs seek to compensate farmers for changes to enhance ecosystem services and/or biodiversity, yet enrolling participants is a common challenge. We examine this challenge using a relational values lens, a framework developed here in reference to three key relationships of farmers to: their land, community and landscape. We then apply this framework to better understand participation in an incentive program for riparian buffers in the US Northwest (the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program). Results are derived from in-depth interviews among participants and potential participants. Using qualitative coding and analysis, we identified five key value conflicts between participants and programs, via the implications of program rules for participant values: aesthetics, active land management, parcel-specific knowledge, and community knowledge about and agency over the landscape. Applying a relational values framework demonstrates how program conditions appear to threaten these valued relationships, leading to value conflicts between programs and participants. Analysis of participant responses suggests that grounding conservation programs in locally salient values could not only increase enrollment but also foster stewardship values that underlie conservation. We conclude with suggestions as to how agri-environmental incentive programs could adapt to better fit with farmer values-making programs more attractive without undermining their ecological effectiveness.
... This includes perspectives on the appropriate use of a place or ecosystem, and views on how perceived benefits and dis-benefits associated with an ecosystem and its different uses have been and will be affected by human use (Bennett 2016;Cheng et al. 2003). Studies on farmers' attitudes to agri-environmental schemes have for example shown the many-facetted reasons for farmers' resistance to such schemes (Harrison et al. 1998;McHenry 1997). These include different understandings of nature, conservation and humans' relationship with nature and of the effects of their own actions as well as reactions against being portrayed as ignorant, and feeling under pressure from an increasingly urban society (Harrison et al. 1998;McHenry 1997). ...
... Studies on farmers' attitudes to agri-environmental schemes have for example shown the many-facetted reasons for farmers' resistance to such schemes (Harrison et al. 1998;McHenry 1997). These include different understandings of nature, conservation and humans' relationship with nature and of the effects of their own actions as well as reactions against being portrayed as ignorant, and feeling under pressure from an increasingly urban society (Harrison et al. 1998;McHenry 1997). Here we look at the case of peatlands in Scotland, as an example of an ecosystem which is currently the focus of many conservation and restoration initiatives, and which is seen as 'problematic' in the sense that those advocating its conservation assume that the general public does not care about peatlands (Scottish Natural Heritage 2001. ...
Most conservation efforts today recognise the need to involve the public if conservation is to succeed in the long-term. A common approach has been to try to educate the public on why they should care. However, information campaigns are often not effective in changing opinions, let alone behaviour. In this paper, we try establishing the basis for alternative approaches based on understanding people's motivations, perceptions and relationship with nature. Using focus groups, we look at the case of peatlands in Scotland, as an example of an ecosystem which is currently the focus of many conservation and restoration initiatives while seen as ‘problematic’ in the sense that those advocating its conservation assume that the general public does not care about peatlands. Our results show that perceptions of peatlands are ambivalent and many-facetted, and that they can be understood, metaphorically speaking, as good, bad and ugly at the same time: they can be seen as bleak wastelands; beautiful, wild nature and cultural landscape. The multiple and ambivalent views of ecosystems such as peatlands seem not to stem necessarily from lack of knowledge, but to be linked to biophysical characteristics, history, trade-offs between different uses and differences in personal relationships with nature. To ensure the long-term success of conservation, it is vital to understand and manage the public's different and ambivalent views about and attitudes towards landscapes of a greater or lesser degree of wilderness. Many practitioners have now come to accept and manage the fact that there is uncertainty in relation to the outcomes of the biophysical processes underpinning ecosystem restoration. It is now necessary to acknowledge human ambivalence and to find mechanisms for dealing with it. This should become one of the new pillars of conservation practice.
... One common master frame is that of scientific rationality (Mercer 2002;Roth et al. 2003). Other common frames include economic growth (Skillington 1997), social justice (Edwards 2006), and local knowledge (Brown 1992;Harrison et al. 1998). ...
... The credibility of these claims was often based on local empirical (though not scientific) evidence -examples of projects that had "succeeded spectacularly," in the words of the holder of a federal grazing allotment. These rosy assessments -when counterpoised to the dire predictions or draconian proposals of others -served to challenge "expert" knowledge with people's own direct experiences (Harrison et al. 1998). As the director of the North Olympic Salmon Coalition asserted, "those who know the watersheds have a record of finding problems, identifying solutions, developing the projects and creating the design and implementation partnerships necessary to recover salmon habitat." ...
Framing is a process of highlighting certain facets of reality to make specific issues more prominent, consequential, and memorable. Framing is important in policy debates because it affects what counts as knowledge, which actors are empowered or disenfranchised, and the forum for decision-making. This paper presents a discourse analysis of framing processes in Pacific Northwest salmon recovery policy. Analysis of testimony from more than 100 witnesses to six U.S. Congressional committees identified two prominent frames: one based on scientific discourse and another based on local control discourse. Actors used these frames to define the problem, outline solutions, support their positions, and undermine the positions of others. Results reveal distinctions between stakeholder groups in the frames that they do and do not use in policy debate, and the discussion addresses reasons for these differences. The results imply that the policy community has limited potential for creative decision-making to address salmon decline.
... While this offers a clear definition, it remains a problematic distinction as there was considerable slippage in terms of practices and ideology between the two groups; the potential exclusions that this definition entails must also be acknowledged for the Soil Association only promotes a particular conceptualisation and operationalisation of the discourse of 'organics'. 1. A good farmer would never damage or destroy land and water because productive land and clean water are the essential conditions for continuing the farm, therefore farming is selfevidently ecological (Harrison, Burgess et al. 1998, Silvasti 2003a). ...
... This translated at the ground level into both critiques of the processes of compliance and uncertainty over exactly how to comply. With regulations often being discussed predominantly at a high level, particularly in the EU, this contributed to the impression that policymakers are aiming for goals that farmers are not party to and so are unable to challenge (Harrison, Burgess et al. 1998). The whole paperwork process was widely considered to be overly complex and, while DEFRA (2013) acknowledges the difficulties in co-ordinating multiple schemes originating from various scales, duplication of efforts persists in certain areas. ...
The practices and decision-making of contemporary agricultural producers are governed by a multitude of different, and sometimes competing, social, economic, regulatory, environmental and ethical imperatives. Understanding how they negotiate and adapt to the demands of this complex and dynamic environment is crucial in maintaining an economically and environmentally viable and resilient agricultural sector. This paper takes a socio-cultural approach to explore the development of social resilience within agriculture through an original and empirically grounded discussion of people-place connections amongst UK farmers. It positions enchantment as central in shaping farmers' embodied and experiential connections with their farms through establishing hopeful, disruptive and demanding ethical practices. Farms emerge as complex moral economies in which an expanded conceptualisation of the social entangles human and non-human actants in dynamic and contextual webs of power and responsibility. While acknowledging that all farms are embedded within broader, nested levels, this paper argues that it is at the micro-scale that the personal, contingent and embodied relations that connect farmers to their farms are experienced and which, in turn, govern their capacity to develop social resilience.
... While many farmers desire to form positive ecological connections between their farms and the surrounding environment, the formation of such symbiotic relationships can be limited by farmer knowledge that is situated within a preexisting, well-established production system (Ellis, 2013;Shattuck, 2019). Identifying locally adapted sustainability practices that create a variety of agronomic and ecological benefits can improve grower support (Harrison et al., 1998;Durant and Ponisio, 2021); coupling such practices with explicit economic improvements will further improve implementation. ...
Improvements to agricultural sustainability are required to maintain productivity in the face of ongoing global challenges, and growers need multiple kinds of support to adopt new sustainability practices and transform cropping systems. Farms are socio-ecological systems, and developing such systems requires tandem changes to human and nonhuman systems. This study evaluates agricultural sustainability practices and perception in the Oregon hazelnut industry, a small, intensified, and rapidly growing orchard production system in the United States. Using a mixed methods approach based on participant observation and an online survey of hazelnut growers in the spring of 2023, we found that growers were widely receptive to the sustainability messaging of industry groups and had widespread adoption of certain sustainability practices including disease-resistant tree varieties and changes in pesticide use, among other practices promoted by researchers. Larger hazelnut growers were more likely to adopt the sustainability practices in our survey, especially certain pest management practices. Growers with older hazelnut orchards turned to more sources of information but also perceived more barriers to implementing new sustainability practices than growers with younger orchards. Growers voiced different opinions about sustainability costs, with some growers expressing economic concerns about sustainability practices and others recognizing the financial benefits of sustainability practices. Differences in the perceived importance of short- and long-term benefits framed some of these concerns about the costs and benefits of sustainability practices. We argue that successful sustainability outreach will address both the short-term economic benefits of certain practices and the long-term sustainability benefits. Growers widely recognize the importance of sustainability, but more messaging about the multiple benefits of sustainability practices can better address both environmental and economic concerns.
... Their opinion may not only differ but may provide unique perspectives, important for identifying equitable land-use decisions and improving conservation outcomes and scope for restoration (Tengö et al., 2014). Broader definitions of expertise may be essential for developing models of ecosystem viability that are both ecologically and socially acceptable (Harrison et al., 1998). ...
Expert judgment underpins assessment of threatened ecosystems. However, experts are often narrowly defined, and variability in their judgments may be substantial. Models built from structured elicitation with large diverse expert panels can contribute to more consistent and transparent decision‐making. We conducted a structured elicitation under a broad definition of expertise to examine variation in judgments of ecosystem viability and collapse in a critically endangered ecosystem. We explored whether variation in judgments among 83 experts was related to affiliation and management expertise and assessed performance of an average model based on common ecosystem indicators. There were systematic differences among individuals, much of which were not explained by affiliation or expertise. However, of the individuals affiliated with government, those in conservation and environmental departments were more likely to determine a patch was viable than those in agriculture and rural land management. Classification errors from an average model, in which all individuals were weighted equally, were highest among government agriculture experts (27%) and lowest among government conservation experts (12%). Differences were mostly cases in which the average model predicted a patch was viable but the individual thought it was not. These differences arose primarily for areas that were grazed or cleared of mature trees. These areas are often the target of restoration, but they are also valuable for agriculture. These results highlight the potential for conflicting advice and disagreement about policies and actions for conserving and restoring threatened ecosystems. Although adoption of an average model can improve consistency of ecosystem assessment, it can fail to capture and convey diverse opinions held by experts. Structured elicitation and models of ecosystem viability play an important role in providing data‐driven evidence of where differences arise among experts to support engagement and discussion among stakeholders and decision makers and to improve the management of threatened ecosystems.
... Affection for the place is a good predictor of ERB [45][46][47]. In addition, tourists' identification with the place increases ERB at destinations [48][49][50]. ...
This study investigated the structural relationship between tourist destination identification and environmental responsibility practices based on the social responsibility activities for visitors of marine sports tourist destinations where domestic travel has been active since COVID-19. Furthermore, we aimed to provide academic and practical implications by investigating the relationship between DSR, a major variable in sustainable marine sports tourism, and ERB. Data from a survey of tourists who participated in marine sports (n = 392) were analyzed using structural equation modeling and Hayes PROCESS macro with bootstrapping procedures. According to the analysis results, it was found that marine sports tourist DSR positively affected destination identification and ERB, and that tourist destination identification positively influenced ERB. Second, it was shown that the effect of the social responsibility of a marine sports tourist destination on ERB is mediated via the influence of tourist destination identification.
... Note that in both Germany and the UK studies have suggested that it is through their common understanding of shared management norms that farmers construct distinct farming identities(Harrison et al., 1998;Stoll-Kleemann, 2001). ...
Original report on fieldwork that formed the basis of the 2008 paper on "Exploring Farmers’ Cultural Resistance to Voluntary Agri-environmental Schemes"
... It is, in fact, a different mode of understanding (Irwin, 1995) as if the scientist and the layperson are not even really speaking the same language (Levy- Leblond, 1992). Though numerous studies have provided solid empirical evidence of the inefficacy of the deficit model approach (Harrison, et al., 1998: Petts & Brooks, 2006Brian Wynne, 1991) and even its real danger (Shiva, 1991) (see text box below), it still persists. ...
This deliverable (7.4) focuses on creating a framework for the development and implementation of education and public engagement (EPE) programs. To accomplish this task, we begin by developing a generic framework that is applicable to any type of EPE program. Owing to the general nature of such an endeavour, our methodology rests primarily on a foundation of desk-based research in the form of an integrative literature review. This type of literature review gathers and analyses relevant documents from a wide variety of disciplines with the aim of creating new frameworks and perspectives on a topic. This literature review draws from peer-reviewed research in a number of academic journals in the disciplines of sociology, psychology, political science, public administration, education, environmental science, and multidisciplinary fields such as transition theory and management, science-technology-society studies, critical theory, and gender studies. After developing this general framework, we then apply it to the objective of creating a framework for EPE programs that focus on ocean literacy and ocean energy acceptability with a focus on wave energy.
The EPE framework for ocean literacy and ocean energy acceptability programs was co-developed with stakeholders and value chain actors following interviews with key contributors conducted in the early autumn of 2021, as well as with a survey tool sent out to partners with whom the researchers had worked on earlier projects. In addition, tasks 7.2 and 7.3 of the SafeWAVE project detailed many lessons and much information which was gathered from both citizens and experts that were applied to the development of this framework, not least among them the necessity of utilizing an intersectional approach in the program’s creation and evaluation. The framework for ocean literacy and ocean energy acceptability programs culminates in a documented methodological approach for the creation of tailored ocean literacy programs for individual ocean energy projects with a focus on wave energy. This task will be the objective of deliverable 7.5.
... Food provision services are increasingly influenced by stakeholders. In particular, the effectiveness of management policy depends on whether stakeholders can form a common understanding and take concerted action [73,74]. Therefore, the common demands and behavioral responses of different stakeholders have become the most important content of food provision services analysis [75,76]. ...
Exploring and analyzing the common demands and behavioral responses of different stakeholders is important for revealing the mediating mechanisms of ecosystem service (ES) and realizing the management and sustainable supply of ES. This study took Mizhi County, a poverty-stricken area on the Loess Plateau in China, as an example. First, the main stakeholders, common demands, and behavioral responses in the food provision services were identified. Second, the relationship among stakeholders was analyzed. Finally, this study summarized three types of mediating mechanisms of food provision services and analyzed the influence of the different types of mediating mechanisms. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Five main stakeholders in the study area were identified: government, farmers, enterprises, cooperatives, and middlemen. (2) Increasing farmers' income is the common demand of most stakeholders in the study area, and this common demand has different effects on the behavioral responses of different stakeholders. (3) There are three types of mediating mechanisms in the study area: government + farmers mediating corn and mutton, government + enterprises mediating millet, and government + cooperatives mediating apples. On this basis, the effects of the different types of mediating mechanisms on variations in food yield, and trade-offs and synergies in typical townships, were analyzed.
... In the context of conservation, for example, we often find different understandings amongst farmers, the general public and conservationists about what it means to care for the land and biodiversity (e.g. Burgess et al., 2000;Chapman et al., 2019;Harrison et al., 1998). In relation to non-human others, attentiveness means paying attention to the reactions of animals, plants and ecosystems to what we do, both where they are the targets of interventions and where they are not. ...
Listening is a pervasive and significant act of conservation research and praxis, mattering greatly for the realisation of conservation agendas, not least its ambitions to be outward looking and inclusive in approach. Yet, the value and role of listening has been barely explored in a sustained and reflexive way.
This paper is a preliminary schematic of what it might mean to attend to the act of listening, set within the context of a larger field of listening scholarship as well as more specific manoeuvres to embed relational approaches into the study of people and nature interactions.
We explore what it means to 'listen well' within the context of conservation, highlighting the importance of recognising listening as a relationship and our positions and power within those relationships; the need to care for the relationship through respect and empathy; and the building of inclusive relationships of listening by attending to how space and time influences understanding.
We offer examples of how researchers and practitioners can create spaces for listening, illustrating our discussion with personal reflections about listening practices gained through our various conservation and research careers.
We provide approaches and ideas which help the reader—academic and practitioner—to both understand and articulate the value of listening in conservation and relational values of nature. We hope to inspire the wider use of listening‐based approaches in conservation research and practice, and the recognition and support from senior managers and funders of what is needed to promote long‐term and meaningful relationships between people and nature.
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... For these reasons, there is still an ongoing debate on how local knowledge (Fischer 2000;McNamara and Westoby 2011;Cerdán et al. 2012)defined also as vernacular and placed-based, or particularised knowledge (Krimsky 1984)may provide valuable contributions to explain situated aspects of an environmental issue and may be a cause and cure of regulatory failure (Bartel 2014). For all that, the contextualised lay understandings of environmental issues are still often dismissed as being merely unscientific or inferior to scientific knowledge (Wynne 1996;Harrison, Burgess, and Clark 1998), remaining unable to enhance procedural democracy on scientific matters (Corburn 2003(Corburn , 2005. 6 Among others, Richard Sclove (1995) has argued for a shift from science "speaking truth" to society to the more democratic notion of "making sense together", stressing that only the involvement of unvoiced marginalised people could contribute to obtaining environmental justice. ...
This paper provides a re-signification of industrial risk as a slow-burning issue (Mah [2017] “Environmental justice in the age of big data: challenging toxic blind spots of voice, speed, and expertise.” Environmental Sociology 3 (2): 122–133.), invisibly and violently diffusing across time and space and affecting relational entanglements between human and non-human components of risk landscapes. As an alternative to a planning approach based on quantitative and objective data, the authors propose to build strategic planning of riskscapes upon what they call small data, that is, the ensemble of qualitative and embodied data that can be gathered through street science (Corburn [2005]. Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health Justice. Cambridge: MIT Press.) and toxic autobiographies (Armiero et al. [2019]. “Toxic Bios: Toxic Autobiographies – A Public Environmental Humanities Project.” Environmental Justice, 1–5. ). In order to discuss the potential role of both small data and toxic autobiographies in the planning field, the authors present the results of an ongoing empirical case study in Gela, a Sicilian town converted into one of the main Italian petrochemical poles in the 1960s by a multinational oil company. The authors analyse Gela’s risk landscapes through the perceptions of citizens and their initiatives to tackle environmental injustices. Finally, the authors argue that small data can provide a better understanding of the landscape of risk through four lenses that allow seeing the slow and diffused change brought by industrial risk: memories of injustice, memories of smell, trans-corporeal stories, and relational stories.
... Subventionen sind ein guter erster Anreiz für Biodiversitätsleistungen, bilden aber nicht unbedingt den entscheidenden Faktor für eine langfristige Motivation (Ahnström et al. 2008, de Snoo et al. 2013, Schenk et al. 2007 (Ahnström et al. 2008, Lokhorst et al. 2011, de Snoo et al. 2013. Maßgeblich für die Akzeptanz sind weiterhin die flexible Anpassung der Maßnahmen an die eigenen betrieblichen Erfordernisse (Ahnström et al. 2008) und das Gefühl der eigenen Beteiligung, z.B. durch die Einbindung und Wertschätzung des lokalen Wissens der Landwirte (Harrison et al. 1998, Schenk et al. 2007 ...
Der Schutz der biologischen Vielfalt ist eine gesellschaftlich sehr wichtige Aufgabe, deren Bedeutung in den letzten Jahrzehnten zunehmend auch politisch erkannt wird. Nationale wie globale Zielsetzungen, den Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt aufzuhalten und eine positive Trendwende zu erreichen, wurden bislang allerdings verfehlt. Als wichtige Ursachen für den Verlust der Artenvielfalt werden sowohl der Landnutzungswandel als auch Klimaveränderungen gesehen. Landnutzungsintensivierungen haben insbesondere seit der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts zu einem zunehmenden Rückgang der Artenvielfalt in der Agrarlandschaft geführt. Die Ursachen für diesen Rückgang sind vielfältig. Sie umfassen eine Abnahme der Nahrungsgrundlage vieler Arten, u.a. durch den Einsatz von Herbiziden und Insektiziden, und den Verlust von geeigneten Fortpflanzungs- und Nahrungshabitaten durch einen Rückgang der Strukturvielfalt und des Anteils naturnaher Habitate. Seit Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts rückt zunehmend auch der Klimawandel als Einflussgröße für den Rückgang der Artenvielfalt in den Fokus. Einhergehend mit steigenden Temperaturen wurden bereits Verschiebungen von Verbreitungsgrenzen und Veränderungen in der Phänologie von Arten beobachtet. Bis zum Ende des 21. Jahrhunderts werden neben weiter steigenden Temperaturen die Zunahme von Hitzewellen und extremen Niederschlagsereignissen, eine Veränderung der Niederschlagsverhältnisse und ein weiterer Anstieg des Meeresspiegels erwartet.
Zwischen Klima und Landnutzung gibt es vielfältige Wechselwirkungen und sich gegenseitig verstärkende Effekte - auch in ihrer Wirkung auf einzelne Arten und die biologische Vielfalt. Hier gilt es, Methoden zur Erfassung und Bewertung von Auswirkungen landnutzungs- und klimawandelbedingter Umweltveränderungen zu entwickeln und aufzuzeigen, durch welche Maßnahmen negative Auswirkungen auf die Artenvielfalt vermieden oder vermindert werden können. Akteure zur Umsetzung solcher Maßnahmen sind einerseits der behördliche und ehrenamtliche Naturschutz. Andererseits ist gerade in der Agrarlandschaft auch die Einbindung von Landwirten entscheidend, um möglichst dauerhafte und großflächige Wirkungen zu erzielen.
Ein Weg der Einbindung von Landwirten in naturschutzfachliche Maßnahmenprogramme führt über die lebensmittelerzeugenden Unternehmen, die Abnehmer ihrer Produkte sind. Solche Unternehmen, gerade aus der Biobranche, suchen zunehmend nach Möglichkeiten, ihren Kunden transparent und glaubwürdig zu kommunizieren, was ihre Zulieferlandwirte für den Erhalt und die Förderung der Artenvielfalt leisten. Flächendeckende Vor-Ort-Erfassungen von Arten sind dabei aber sowohl aus Kosten- als auch aus Zeitgründen unrealistisch. Einfache Modelle bzw. Indikatorensets, die die Artenvielfalt auf landwirtschaftlichen Flächen valide abbilden und dabei zeiteffizient und praxisnah in der Datenerhebung und Anwendung sind, werden daher dringend benötigt, fehlen aber bislang. Auf Basis solcher Modelle können auch Maßnahmen für die Betriebsebene und deren Potenzial zur Steigerung der Artenvielfalt abgeleitet werden.
Im Hinblick auf Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf Tierarten fehlen derzeit vor allem auf regionaler Ebene Einschätzungen über die Empfindlichkeit von Artengemeinschaften gegenüber den projizierten Klimaänderungen und darüber, wie sich klimabedingte Arealverschiebungen auf die Zusammensetzung regionaler Artengemeinschaften auswirken könnten. Solche Einschätzungen braucht es aber, um den naturschutzfachlichen Handlungsbedarf für Anpassungsstrategien und -maßnahmen zu identifizieren und zu konkretisieren. Zu entsprechenden Anpassungsmaßnahmen gibt es bereits eine Reihe von Empfehlungen, die allerdings häufig unspezifisch bleiben, so dass vielen Praktikern unklar ist, welche Maßnahmen Priorität haben und wie diese konkret umgesetzt werden sollen und können. Daher ist es erforderlich, solche allgemeinen Maßnahmenempfehlungen für die jeweilige regionale Ebene unter Berücksichtigung der Empfindlichkeit der dort vorkommenden Arten und möglicher klimabedingter Ein- und Abwanderungsprozesse zu konkretisieren.
Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Wissenslücken war das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit, einen Beitrag dazu zu leisten, Auswirkungen landnutzungs- und klimawandelbedingter Umweltveränderungen auf Tierarten auf der regionalen bzw. lokalen Ebene zu ermitteln und zu bewerten, um darauf aufbauend geeignete und für die jeweilige Ebene hinreichend konkrete naturschutzfachliche Maßnahmen zur Verminderung negativer Auswirkungen ableiten zu können. Dazu wurde exemplarisch für einzelne Regionen, Lebensräume und Tierartengruppen untersucht,
1) anhand welcher Indikatorensets und Modelle sich die Artenvielfalt auf der Ebene landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe praxistauglich, zeiteffizient und valide abbilden lässt,
2) an welchen Kriterien eine Empfindlichkeit von Tierarten gegenüber klimatischen Veränderungen auf naturräumlicher Ebene festgemacht werden kann,
3) wie sich ein klimawandelbedingter Turnover in Artengemeinschaften eines Naturraums abschätzen lässt,
4) welche Maßnahmen zum Erhalt und zur Förderung der Artenvielfalt basierend auf den Ergebnissen solcher Analysen auf lokaler und regionaler Ebene abgeleitet werden können,
5) welche Synergien sich im Hinblick auf Maßnahmen zur Verringerung negativer Auswirkungen von Klimawandel und Landnutzung ergeben und welche Grenzen die entwickelten Methoden zur Einschätzung solcher Auswirkungen aufweisen.
Hinsichtlich der Auswirkungen landnutzungsbedingter Umweltveränderungen auf Tierarten wurde untersucht, ob und wie sich die Artenvielfalt und mögliche Veränderungen durch die Landnutzung oder durch Naturschutzmaßnahmen auf der Ebene landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe mit Hilfe von einfach handhabbaren Modellen und Indikatorensets abbilden lassen. Dazu wurden in umfangreichen Literaturstudien mögliche Einflussvariablen identifiziert, die für die Artenvielfalt von Tagfaltern auf Rainen und die Artenvielfalt von Vögeln in Hecken sowie auf Äckern von Bedeutung sein können. Auf sieben über Deutschland verteilten landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben wurden sowohl Daten zu diesen möglichen Einflussvariablen erhoben als auch Erfassungen der Artengruppen Tagfalter und Vögel durchgeführt. Durch multiple lineare Regressionsanalysen wurden aus dem Set der möglichen Einflussvariablen anhand der auf den Betrieben erhobenen Daten diejenigen identifiziert, die die Artenvielfalt von Tagfaltern und Vögeln am besten vorhersagen. Bei Tagfaltern auf Rainen sind dies die Heterogenität der umgebenden Landschaft, der Mahdzeitpunkt, die Breite, Länge und das Gräser-Kräuter-Verhältnis des Rains sowie die Bewirtschaftungsart angrenzender Felder. Für die Artenvielfalt von Vögeln in Hecken wurden die Variablen Länge und Breite der Hecke, die Anzahl der Gehölzarten, das Vorkommen von Höhlen/Totholz, das Vorhandensein von Dornsträuchern sowie die Breite des angrenzenden Krautsaums als wichtigste Einflussfaktoren zur Vorhersage der Artenvielfalt ermittelt. Ein Modell zur Vorhersage der Artenvielfalt von Vögeln auf Äckern wurde verworfen, da die Ergebnisse deutlich von der Datenlage der Stichprobe geprägt waren und nur zum Teil den Erkenntnissen aus der zuvor durchgeführten Literaturstudie entsprachen.
Die aus den Modellergebnissen ableitbaren Maßnahmen für die Betriebsebene beziehen sich auf die jeweils bedeutsamen Einflussfaktoren - z.B. das Mahdregime bzw. den Mahdzeitpunkt bei Rainen und die Anlage oder Verbreitung von Krautsäumen zwischen Hecken und den an diese angrenzenden Feldern - und betreffen sowohl die Optimierung vorhandener Strukturen als auch die Neuanlage von Landschaftselementen. Diese stellen einen Baustein im Spektrum sinnvoller Maßnahmen auf landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben dar und sollten durch weitere flankiert werden. Dazu ist eine gesamtbetriebliche Perspektive wichtig, die die betriebs- und landschaftsraumspezifischen Voraussetzungen einbindet. Zur Unterstützung hierbei kann einerseits landwirtschaftliche Beratung, andererseits aber auch eine vom Landwirt selbst bedienbare naturschutzfachliche Managementsoftware dienen. In eine solche Software (MANUELA - Managementsystem Naturschutz für eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft) wurden die in der vorliegenden Arbeit entwickelten Modelle bereits implementiert und ergänzen dort bereits vorhandene Tools, zum Beispiel zur Ermittlung und Bewertung der Pflanzenartenvielfalt auf Äckern, aber auch zum Landschaftsbild und zum Biotopverbund.
Hinsichtlich der Auswirkungen klimawandelbedingter Umweltveränderungen wurde unter-sucht, an welchen Kriterien sich eine Empfindlichkeit von Tierarten gegenüber solchen Umweltveränderungen auf naturräumlicher Ebene festmachen lässt und welche Eigenschaften eine Anpassung an sich ändernde Umweltbedingungen erschweren. Mit Hilfe einer auf solchen Kriterien basierenden Empfindlichkeitsanalyse wurde ermittelt, wie viele Tierarten in den naturräumlichen Regionen „Harz“ und „Lüneburger Heide und Wendland“ eine erhöhte Empfindlichkeit gegenüber klimawandelbedingten Umweltveränderungen aufweisen. Dabei wurden Vertreter der Artengruppen Brutvögel, Amphibien, Reptilien, Heuschrecken, Tagfalter und Libellen mit einbezogen. Eine voraussichtlich erhöhte Empfindlichkeit gegenüber spezifisch klimawandelbedingten Umweltveränderungen lässt sich bei jeweils ca. 39% der untersuchten Tierarten in den naturräumlichen Regionen „Harz“ und „Lüneburger Heide und Wendland“ feststellen. Dabei scheinen insgesamt mehr Arten negativ von einer Abnahme der Sommerniederschläge betroffen zu sein als von einer Erhöhung der Temperaturen. Weiterhin wurde ermittelt, wie klimabedingte Veränderungen der Zusammensetzung von Vogellebensgemeinschaften in einem Naturraum abgeschätzt und Prognosen über mögliche klimabedingte Zu- und Abwanderungen von Arten getroffen werden können. Dazu wurde der Artenpool des Naturraums Lüneburger Heide mit den Artenpools zukünftig klimaanaloger Räume verglichen. Zukünftig klimaanaloge Räume sind Gebiete, die gegenwärtig klimatische Verhältnisse aufweisen, die zukünftig für das Untersuchungsgebiet projiziert werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Mehrzahl der Vogelarten die für den Zeitraum 2071-2100 erwarteten Klimabedingungen im Naturraum Lüneburger Heide vermutlich tolerieren kann, die Artenvielfalt insgesamt aber möglicherweise abnehmen wird. Viele der potenziell aus dem Naturraum abwandernden Arten sind an Feuchtgebiete als Lebensraum gebunden.
Zur Verringerung negativer klimawandelbedingter Auswirkungen auf Tierarten können zum einen derzeitige Gefährdungsursachen und Stressoren minimiert werden, um die Habitatverfügbarkeit und -qualität zu erhöhen und die Resilienz sowie das Anpassungspotenzial von Arten zu stärken. Als prioritäre Maßnahmen sind je nach naturräumlicher Region die folgenden anzusehen: Maßnahmen zum Schutz und zur Wiederherstellung von Feuchtlebensräumen, Maßnahmen zur Verhinderung von Nährstoffeinträgen bzw. Eutrophierung und zur Extensivierung landwirtschaftlicher Nutzung, Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Konnektivität in der Landschaft und zur Verringerung des Landschaftsverbrauchs, Maßnahmen zur Offenhaltung von Lebensräumen und Maßnahmen zur naturnahen Waldrandgestaltung bzw. Waldbewirtschaftung. Zum anderen kann zur Verringerung negativer klimawandelbedingter Auswirkungen auf Tierarten die Konnektivität in der Landschaft gefördert und der Erhalt und die Schaffung von Biotopverbundstrukturen gestärkt werden, um den Arten eine Anpassung durch die Verschiebung ihrer Verbreitungsareale zu ermöglichen. Besonders auf überregionale Biotopverbundmaßnahmen zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel angewiesen sind in beiden naturräumlichen Regionen Arten des Offenlandes, in der naturräumlichen Region „Lüneburger Heide und Wendland“ zusätzlich auch Arten der Gewässer.
Da viele der derzeitigen Gefährdungsursachen potenziell klimaempfindlicher Arten nutzungsbezogen sind und auch direkte oder indirekte Folge landwirtschaftlicher Nutzung sein können, sind Synergien zwischen Maßnahmen zur Verminderung negativer Auswirkungen von Landnutzungs- und Klimawandeleinflüssen offenkundig. Dies betrifft auch die Stärkung des Biotopverbunds. Hier spielen Raine und Hecken in der Agrarlandschaft eine wichtige Rolle - auch vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels, da viele der auf Biotopverbund als Anpassungsmaßnahme angewiesenen Arten Bewohner des Offenlandes sind. Ein besonderes Gewicht kommt im Hinblick auf den Klimawandel dem Schutz bzw. der Renaturierung und Schaffung von Feuchtlebensräumen zu. Diese werden bislang nur zum Teil durch die Modelle zur Abschät-zung der Artenvielfalt auf landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben abgedeckt, so dass in der Erweiterung der Modelle um die Lebensräume Feuchtgrünland und Grünland im Allgemeinen eine mögliche Weiterentwicklung der vorliegenden Arbeit zu sehen ist. Da ein Großteil der Fläche Deutschlands landwirtschaftlich genutzt wird, kommt der Landwirtschaft bei der Bewahrung der Artenvielfalt eine Schlüsselrolle zu. Die vermehrte Integration naturschutzfachlicher Ziele in die Landbewirtschaftung kann daher wesentlich zum Erhalt und zur Förderung der Artenvielfalt beitragen, nicht nur im Hinblick auf landnutzungsbezogene sondern auch auf klimawandelbezogene Einflüsse. Die vorliegende Arbeit liefert dazu wichtige Ansätze.
... 131). Harrison et al. (1998) also noted how recognition as a good farmer was important and identified distinctions between what farmers and non-farmers viewed as a 'good famer'. Throughout the decade references to the 'good farmer' increasingly came to acknowledge the term as a cultural construct. ...
Developed by leading authors in the field, this book offers a cohesive and definitive theorisation of the concept of the 'good farmer', integrating historical analysis, critique of contemporary applications of good farming concepts, and new case studies, providing a springboard for future research.
The concept of the good farmer has emerged in recent years as part of a move away from attitude and economic-based understandings of farm decision-making towards a deeper understanding of culture and symbolism in agriculture. The Good Farmer shows why agricultural production is socially and culturally, as well as economically, important. It explores the history of the concept and its position in contemporary theory, as well as its use and meaning in a variety of different contexts, including landscape, environment, gender, society, and as a tool for resistance. By exploring the idea of the good farmer, it reveals the often-unforeseen assumptions implicit in food and agricultural policy that draw on culture, identity, and presumed notions of what is 'good'. The book concludes by considering the potential of the good farmer concept for addressing future, emerging issues in agriculture.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of food and agriculture and rural development, as well as professionals and policymakers involved in the food and agricultural industry.
Table of Contents
1. The ‘good farmer’: cultural dimensions of farming and social change
2. The origins of the ‘good farmer’
3. How symbols of ‘good farming’ develop: the historical development of ‘tidy farming’
4. Theorising the ‘good farmer’: from common sense category to analytical construct
5. Morality and the ‘good farmer’
6. The gendered ‘good farmer’
7. The ‘good farmer’ in communities of practice
8. Future challenges for the ‘good farmer’
... Първата стъпка в тази посока е уеднаквяване на разбирането за екологизация на ОСП, характеристиките и елементите на ЗСИ. Така например Burges et al. (2000) и Harrison et al. (1998) правят оценка за разбирането на понятието "природа" и установяват различията в разбирането на земеделските стопани и на изследователите в областта на опазване на околната среда. Те установяват, че различията във възприятието и в същността на понятието са в основата на поведението и отговора на всяка група към различните управленски решения по отношение на политиките и механизмите, които се въвеждат за постигане на поставените цели. ...
... Both aspects can be fostered as parts of the corporate culture of a food company accompanied by result oriented agrienvironmental measures. Important factors for acceptance are that measures can be adapted to meet farmspecific requirements (Ahnström et al. 2008) and that farmers feel that their local knowledge is appreciated (Harrison et al. 1998). As the models for hedgerows complement previously published models for field margins (Sybertz et al. 2017) and arable fields (Bredemeier et al. 2015), companies can offer their contracted farmers the choice between which measures to use or which landscape element focus best fits their farms. ...
In light of decreasing species richness on farmland and an increasing awareness of biodiversity issues among customers and food companies, concepts and models to evaluate and enhance farmland biodiversity are greatly needed. It is important that the models are easy to apply as they have to be utilized by practitioners such as farmers and their consultants. In this study, simple but valid predictors were identified to rapidly assess the species richness of birds and woody plants in hedgerows, an important farmland landscape element. Hedgerows were sampled in seven agricultural landscapes throughout Germany. By means of automatic model selection procedures, linear regression models were estimated to predict bird and woody plant species richness. Cross validation procedures were carried out in order to visualize model selection uncertainty and estimate the prediction error. Due to a rather high prediction error, the model for plants can only be recommended for use when field work is not feasible. The model for birds, however, explained 70.8% of the variance in species numbers. It may help farmers, food companies and nature conservation agencies to rapidly evaluate bird species richness in hedgerows on farmland and to identify potentials and appropriate measures for enhancing it.
... Unterstützt werden könnte dieses Labeling durch gezielte Hervorhebung jener Faktoren, die sich als wichtige Entscheidungsvariablen mit Bezug auf den Umweltschutz erwiesen haben. Dazu zählt eine Be- tonung der Verbundenheit in der Landwirtschaft Tätigen mit der Natur (Lokhorst et al. 2014), des Nutzens der Maßnahmen für die eigene Region (Hernández et al. 2010) sowie des Wissens und der Fähigkeiten, die benötigt werden, um die Maßnahmen umzusetzen (Harrison et al. 1998). Zusätzlich sollte sowohl bei den Landwirtinnen und Landwirten als auch in der Gesellschaft ge- zielt eine Sichtweise verankert werden, die die Landwirtschaft zwar grundsätzlich für den Zustand der ländlichen Umwelt in die Verantwortung nimmt, die Landwirtschaft aber definitiv als Teil der Lösung und nicht als Teil des Problems ansieht.Unterstützt werden könnte ein solches Reframing durch zwei weitere Maßnahmen: Erstens, die Etablierung eines Benchmarks oder Feedbacks (Sutherland und Peel 2010). ...
Zusammenfassung: Das Konzept des Nudgings wird in Wissenschaft und Politik als Mittel diskutiert, um individuelle Entscheidungen zu steuern, ohne die vorhandenen Handlungsoptionen zu verändern. Studien und Pilotprojekte in den Bereichen Gesundheitsprävention, Energiesparen und Finanzen dokumentieren positive Verhaltensänderungen nach Einsatz dieses weichen und kosteneffizienten Politikinstrumentes. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert mögliche Anwendungsfelder des Nudgings in der Agrarpolitik, insbesondere im Kontext von Umweltschutzmaßnahmen und der Frage, wie eine umweltschonende Landwirtschaft stärker gefördert werden kann.
... These opposing preferences present a difficulty for the sustainable implementation of nature-conservation policies (Harrison et al., 1998;Bonnes et al., 2007), as policies introduced by experts may lack support by urban dwellers which are mostly laypeople. An integration of the citizen perspective is thus all the more important to design urban green spaces with the citizens rather than for them in a top-down manner (Gross, 2007;Zaunbrecher and Ziefle, 2016). ...
Facing the growing amount of people living in cities and, at the same time, the need for a compact and sustainable urban development to mitigate urban sprawl, it becomes increasingly important that green spaces in compact cities are designed to meet the various needs within an urban environment. Urban green spaces have a multitude of functions: Maintaining ecological processes and resulting services, e.g. providing habitat for animals and plants, providing a beneficial city microclimate as well as recreational space for citizens. Regarding these requirements, currently existing assessment procedures for green spaces have some major shortcomings, which are discussed in this paper. It is argued why a more detailed spatial level as well as a distinction between natural and artificial varieties of structural elements is justified and needed and how the assessment of urban green spaces benefits from the multidimensional perspective that is applied. By analyzing a selection of structural elements from an ecological, microclimatic and social perspective, indicator values are derived and a new, holistic metrics
... Knowledge and ways of knowing are also relational and political (Bixler, 2013). One epistemology may be privileged over others in different contexts or at different scales (Cote and Nightingale, 2012), particularly where natural resource decision making involves management for multiple objectives across spatiotemporal and social scales (Harrison et al., 1998;Black Elk, 2016). We also recognize that knowledge is dynamic. ...
Rangelands of the western Great Plains of North America are complex social-ecological systems where management objectives for livestock production, grassland bird conservation, and vegetation structure and composition converge. The Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management (CARM) experiment is a 10-year collaborative adaptive management (CAM) project initiated in 2012 that is aimed at fostering science-management partnerships and data-driven rangeland management through a participatory, multistakeholder approach. This study evaluates the decision-making process that emerged from the first 4 yr of CARM. Our objectives were to 1) document how diverse stakeholder experiences, epistemologies, and resulting knowledge contributed to the CARM project, 2) evaluate how coproduced knowledge informed management decision making through three grazing seasons, and 3) explore the implications of participation in the CARM project for rangeland stakeholders. We evaluated management decision making as representatives from government agencies and conservation nongovernmental organizations, ranchers, and interdisciplinary researchers worked within the CARM experiment to 1) prioritize desired ecosystem services; 2) determine objectives; 3) set stocking rates, criteria for livestock movement among pastures, and vegetation treatments; and 4) select monitoring techniques that would inform decision making. For this paper, we analyzed meeting transcripts, interviews, and focus group data related to stakeholder group decision making. We find two key lessons from the CARM project. First, the CAM process makes visible, but does not reconcile differences between, stakeholder experiences and ways of knowing about complex rangeland systems. Second, social learning in CAM is contingent on the development of trust among stakeholder and researcher groups. We suggest future CAM efforts should 1) make direct efforts to share and acknowledge managers’ different rangeland management experiences, epistemologies, and knowledge and 2) involve long-term research commitment in time and funding to social, as well as experimental, processes that promote trust building among stakeholders and researchers over time.
... The social success of public policies is dependent on stakeholders' co-operation and participation (Alphandery and Fortier, 2001;Harrison et al., 1998;Van Ark, 2005). The investigation of stakeholders' opinions is a prerequisite for the start of a participatory process in order to highlight the divergences and similarities of opinion between groups of interest. ...
Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas aiming at ensure the protection of European habitats and species biodiversity. The national governments of European Union member countries have delegated the responsibility to manage the Natura 2000 sites at sub-national/regional level. The responsible for the Natura 2000 sites management must organise stakeholders' involvement in the decision-making process to balance the objectives of nature conservation with the social and economic interests. The aim of this paper is to investigate public participation process in the implementation of Nature 2000 network in Slovakia. After a stakeholder analysis, 16 stakeholders participated in the survey. The data were collected through the administration of face-to-face questionnaire. The stakeholders' involvement was assessed considering: obstacles and opportunities of Natura 2000 for human activities and level of participation. The results show that Natura 2000 network is considered an opportunity for human activities by the stakeholders because it could be an economic support for the private owners, a marketing tool to promote eco-tourism, and an instrument to improve the ecosystem services. Conversely, some stakeholders consider Natura 2000 network an obstacle due to the potential restrictions for agricultural and forestry activities.Concerning the participatory process, the results point out that public actors have been involved through the co-decision, while the other categories of stakeholders have been involved at different levels (collaboration or information), demonstrating in any case the willingness to follow a participative approach. According to the surveyed stakeholders, the short time of implementation of the Habitats Directive after the accession of Slovakia to the EU precluded from more thoughtful communication and participation strategies.
... The social success of public policies is dependent on stakeholders' co-operation and participation (Alphandery and Fortier, 2001;Harrison et al., 1998;Van Ark, 2005). The investigation of stakeholders' opinions is a prerequisite for the start of a participatory process in order to highlight the divergences and similarities of opinion between groups of interest. ...
Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas aiming at ensure the protection of European habitats and species biodiversity. The national governments of European Union member countries have delegated the responsibility to manage the Natura 2000 sites at sub-national/regional level. The responsible for the Natura 2000 sites management must organise stakeholders' involvement in the decision-making process to balance the objectives of nature conservation with the social and economic interests. The aim of this paper is to investigate public participation process in the implementation of Nature 2000 network in Slovakia. After a stakeholder analysis, 16 stakeholders participated in the survey. The data were collected through the administration of face-to-face questionnaire. The stakeholders' involvement was assessed considering: obstacles and opportunities of Natura 2000 for human activities and level of participation. The results show that Natura 2000 network is considered an opportunity for human activities by the stakeholders because it could be an economic support for the private owners, a marketing tool to promote eco-tourism, and an instrument to improve the ecosystem services. Conversely, somestakeholders consider Natura 2000 network an obstacle due to the potential restrictions for agricultural and forestry activities. Concerning the participatory process, the results point out that public actors have been involved through the codecision, while the other categories of stakeholders have been involved at different levels (collaboration or information), demonstrating in any case the willingness to follow a participative approach. According to the surveyed stakeholders, the short time of implementation of the Habitats Directive after the accession of Slovakia to the EU precluded from more thoughtful communication and participation strategies.
... This provides an opportunity for farmers to challenge the knowledge and authority of the 671 conservationists and bureaucrats implementing the schemes(Harrison and Burgess, 1998) and 672 endorses their own knowledge and role in the production of valued environmental landscapes.673This is why it is crucially important not to assume environmental behaviours and AES to be 674 synonymous (cf.Lokhorst et al., 2011). This is relevant for our discussion of crowding-out 675 since, in combination with the evidence presented earlier, it demonstrates that when farmers 676 talk about continuing with 'environmental behaviours' this does not automatically mean they 677 will continue to fulfil the stipulations of the AES. ...
The termination of the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) Agri-Environment Scheme in England provides a unique opportunity for testing and exploring the so-called crowding-out theory. The theory posits that payment for the provision of public goods leads to a reduction in the intrinsic motivation for their supply. Through a small qualitative case-study in Southwest England we explore farmers' intentions to continue with 'environmental behaviours' following the cessation of ELS. Contrary to the crowding-out theory we find that farmers will continue with longstanding 'environmental practices' that were financially rewarded by the ELS, but will pick and choose whether to continue with newly introduced practices depending on how they fit with farmers' existing cultural, economic and instrumental priorities. Moreover, we argue that the crowding-out theory is based on a set of assumptions and simplifications that do not adequately help us interpret the relationship between farmers' motives, practices and intentions. In particular, we show that intrinsic and extrinsic motives cannot straightforwardly be separated and that definitions of what constitutes an 'environmental behaviour' are far more complex than is often assumed. Sociologia Ruralis
... The bond between a person and a place is known as place attachment (Florek, 2011;Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001). Place attachment has been identified as being a good predictor of environmentally responsible behavior (Cheng & Wu, 2015;Halpenny, 2010;Hines, Hungerford, & Tomera, 1987) and has previously been found to occur between tourists and destinations (Carr, 2002;Harrison, Burgess, & Clark, 1998;Pooley & O'Connor, 2000). People long for a feeling of attachment and sense of positive self-esteem. ...
... Previous research on what motivates organic farmer decision-making has often focused on attitudes, values, and personality traits (Farmar Bowers and Lane 2009;Willock et al. 1999); however, the results of this research have not been used in message development and delivery. Some studies have compared the subjective nature of both scientific and local knowledge of agricultural practices ( Harrison, Burgess, and Clark 1998;Tsouvalis, Seymour, and Watkins 2000;White and Selfa 2013). In these studies, expert and farmer knowledge cultures were found to be at odds with each other, but little insight was provided into how to bridge this cultural communication gap. ...
We used the mental models research method to generate a conceptual map of how Midwest farmers use knowledge, experience, and individual perceptions of weed-related risk to make weed management decisions. We discovered that Midwest farmer knowledge of ecological weed management practices is robust, and that the difficult trade-offs farmers make regarding cultivation, cover crops, and soil health determine what weed management practices they use. Midwest farmers balance the risks of cultivation and implementation of cover crops with their valuable benefits to soil health and weed suppression. Developing a decision support tool that provides a baseline of scientific evidence and that offers flexibility based on farmers’ experiences and values will clarify these trade-offs and guide effective decision-making.
... Farmers often prefer conservation measures that do not interfere with farm productivity and that correspond to their perceptions of a 'good farm' landscape (Carr and Tait, 1991.) This work reveals that farmers' values and knowledge of the natural world and their responses to scientific conservation advice can be at variance with the understanding of experts (Carr and Tait, 1991;McEachern, 1992;Harrison et al., 1998;McHenry, 1998). In addition, the ''information environment,'' as well as local social networks, have been shown to be key factors in a number of recent studies that take an actor network approach to understanding farmer 'knowledge-cultures' (Lowe et al., 1997;Tsouvalis et al., 2000;Coughenour, 2003). ...
... Certainly the learning driver is predicated upon the power of lay understanding and the intense, contextual knowledge of people in their local environments (e.g. Wynne 1991Wynne , 1996Harrison et al. 1998;Irwin 1995;Irwin et al. 1999;Petts et al. 2003). However, it also responds to the notion of expertise as an ongoing learning process resulting from interactions between people (e.g. ...
In the context of the growth in support for deliberative decision-making, this paper presents a new examination of an important and as yet largely ignored question of just how a deliberative process can capitalize on local knowledge and lead to shared (expert and public) learning and understanding. It speaks to both the academic and practitioner through a set of reflections upon the nature and demands of engagement management. Drawing upon a recent urban river restoration project in the UK, the subject of an innovative form of engagement, it identifies and examines the key management elements, i.e. the recruitment of representative interests; active facilitation; collaborative framing; optimizing interaction; and managing the unexpected. The paper concludes that both public and expert can learn if the right conditions for listening, sharing, reflecting on preferences and adapting are created and managed, and identifies the theoretical and practical implications.
... Their needs, perceptions, and attitudes contain useful information that could be incorporated into the decision-making process. Considering their knowledge and opinions can lead to the resolution of conflicts and make management systems more effective and more favorable in practice [55][56][57]. De Boer [58] and Newmark et al. [59] showed that access to park-related benefits can positively influence the perceptions and attitudes of local people. However, if local people recognize that the benefits are too small or unevenly distributed, conservation approaches may fail to win their genuine support, and local people may even adopt actions detrimental to the goals of conservation [48,60,61]. ...
Identifying the main sources of conflict and understanding the relationships between protected areas and local communities are critical to conflict resolution related to protected area management. We surveyed and assessed the perceptions of local people related to forest values of the Bulong Nature Reserve (BNR), Yunnan, China, and their attitudes toward forest management of the recently-established nature reserve. Factors influencing the differences in perceptions and attitudes were investigated. Our results indicated local residents preferred the economic value of forests, and they perceived more forest values after reserve establishment than before, especially for ecological services. Interviewees believed the value of the forests have increased, and predicted that the forest will have increased importance to their livelihoods and health in the future. Nonetheless, the majority of interviewees were dissatisfied with current reserve management. Variation in these perceptions and attitudes were related to several social variables: age, gender, education, and distance from the reserve. Embedding the findings of the present study, specifically the perceptions and attitudes of local people, into management guidelines for mitigation of potential conflicts is proposed and should help managers to achieve biodiversity-related goals. This study offers new insights related to the identification of the underlying sources of conflict in forest management and provides a better understanding of the relationship between local people and protected areas. The study also contributes to the literature on forest values of indigenous populations by examining those of remote, rural populations in China.
... However, the analysis of farmers' attitudes towards environmental norms and requirements has seldom explored how their response has been partly influenced by the attitude of those who make management prescriptions. Such studies suggest that the production of knowledge by environmental stakeholders such as scientific communities, professional groups and non-governmental organisations has actively contributed to shaping the type of nature that needs to be protected and the interest of the public in this protection (Deverre 1995;Lowe et al. 1997;Harrisson, Burgess, and Clark 1998;Siebert, Laschewski, and Dosh 2008). ...
... Local knowledge is mostly implicit and indirect. It is the sum of experiences, abilities and world views, of people and institutions, which have emerged in a specific cultural background and environment, on which its meaning depends (Harrison et al. 1998), and which is constantly changing (Schareika 2004). It is the consequence of practical en-gagement, reinforced by experience in the environment and trial-and-error tests. ...
... For Latin America, seeAlbert (1994), de Oliveira(2002), andStonich (1998).20 Also, seeGeisler (2003),Harrison, Burgess, and Clarke (1998), Neumann (1995 andSaid (1994).21 Also, seeCronon (1996),Glacken (1972),Gordon (2000),MacNaughten and Urry (1998), McAfee (1999),McHenry (1998), Neumann (1995,Proctor (1998),Robbins (1998),Scoones (1999),Stearman (1994), andYoung (1999b). ...
... With long-term place relationship and commitment to the local environment, people developed attachments to places, which enhanced ERB in daily lives (Hines et al., 1987;Relph, 1976). Recent studies have applied ERB to the field of tourism and recreation (G€ ossling & Williams, 2010;Hou et al., 2005;Hwang et al., 2005;Kyle et al., 2004;Lee, 2001;Schultz, 2000), and some studies revealed that when individuals have attachment to specific tourist locations, they will care about the environment and be concerned with issues of environmental protection (Carr, 2002;Harrison, Burgess, & Clark, 1998;Pooley & O'Connor, 2000). ...
Previous studies have explored tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) from the perspectives of individual commitment, attractiveness, and involvement. This study approaches from the standpoint of environmental knowledge (EK); it probes tourists’ behavior to facilitate sustainable tourism development, and constructs a sustainable island tourism development model by integrating EK, environmental sensitivity, place attachment, and ERB. Four hundred and seventy seven tourists visiting the Penghu Islands, Taiwan, were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects.
Results indicate that higher levels of tourists’ EK about the Penghu Islands are associated with stronger environmental sensitivity; environmental sensitivity which tourists have for island tourism is positively associated with place attachment. The extent of place attachment of Penghu as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. When tourists are highly sensitive to the attraction, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. Environmental sensitivity and place attachment were found to exert significant effects in mediating the relationships between EK and ERB. This study pioneers the integration of all four constructs in a sustainable tourism behavior model for tourists to island tourism destinations. Suggestions for marketing and implementation of sustainable tourism, and their managerial implications are proposed.
... With long-term place relationship and commitment to the local environment, people developed attachments to places, which enhanced ERB in daily lives (Hines et al., 1987;Relph, 1976). Recent studies have applied ERB to the field of tourism and recreation (G€ ossling & Williams, 2010;Hou et al., 2005;Hwang et al., 2005;Kyle et al., 2004;Lee, 2001;Schultz, 2000), and some studies revealed that when individuals have attachment to specific tourist locations, they will care about the environment and be concerned with issues of environmental protection (Carr, 2002;Harrison, Burgess, & Clark, 1998;Pooley & O'Connor, 2000). ...
Previous studies have explored tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) from the perspectives of individual commitment, attractiveness, and involvement. This study approaches from the standpoint of environmental knowledge (EK); it probes tourists’ behavior to facilitate sustainable tourism development, and constructs a sustainable island tourism development model by integrating EK, environmental sensitivity, place attachment, and ERB. Four hundred and seventy seven tourists visiting the Penghu Islands, Taiwan, were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects.
Results indicate that higher levels of tourists’ EK about the Penghu Islands are associated with stronger environmental sensitivity; environmental sensitivity which tourists have for island tourism is positively associated with place attachment. The extent of place attachment of Penghu as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. When tourists are highly sensitive to the attraction, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. Environmental sensitivity and place attachment were found to exert significant effects in mediating the relationships between EK and ERB. This study pioneers the integration of all four constructs in a sustainable tourism behavior model for tourists to island tourism destinations. Suggestions for marketing
and implementation of sustainable tourism, and their managerial implications are proposed.
... Previous research examined the ways that concepts such as "nature" or "sustainable use of natural resources" are defined by and incorporated into the worldviews held by various groups. Burgess et al. [19] and Harrison et al. [20] examined how the concept of "nature" is understood differently by farmers and conservation scientists. The differences in worldviews have a considerable impact on the response toward management programs by land managers on the ground. ...
Successful sustainable land management efforts rely on stakeholder support and integration of stakeholder knowledge. This study explored the views of sustainable land management expressed by land use stakeholders and how these views contribute to land users’ self-perceptions. We examined stakeholder perceptions in four case study areas in rural northern Germany. The target groups consisted of representatives from (i) agriculture; (ii) forestry; (iii) water management and (iv) rural planning and development (“cross-sector” representatives). The data were gathered using 60 semi-structured interviews and were analyzed qualitatively. The results indicate that differences in perceptions are greater between stakeholder groups than between regions; regional land management issues shape the framework of negotiations and the redefinition of concepts, whereas stakeholder group affiliations shape mindsets. The economic dimension of sustainability was emphasized, particularly by land managers; however, the social dimension was underrepresented in the statements. Furthermore, there are considerable differences between stakeholder groups in terms of the ways in which the spatial and temporal scales of sustainable land use are perceived. This study underscores the importance of examining stakeholder knowledge and understanding the complexity of land management and its benefits such that consensual management strategies may be developed.
... Jokinen 2004;Oksanen 2003;Peuhkuri 2004;Valve & Kauppila 2008) and elsewhere in Europe (e.g. Burton et al. 2008;Harrison et al. 1998;Lundqvist 2001;McEachern 1992;Pinton 2001;Riley 2008). However, local and universal knowledge should not be regarded as different a priori. ...
http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:978-951-44-8376-9
... Homburg and Stolberg (2006) proposed that individuals' affective expression and identification positively affect ERB and constitute critical factors determining tourist behavior (Grob, 1995;Lee, Backman, & Backman, 1997). This result corresponds to that of Pooley and O'Connor (2000), who stated that when individuals develop special affection and sentiment toward a destination, they become interested in understanding the environmental problems of the destination and further exhibit ERB (Carr, 2002;Gosling & Williams, 2010;Harrison, Burgess, & Clark, 1998). Therefore, some scholars asserted that when people are attached to travel destinations, they show affective dependence and identification (Schultz, 2000) and develop an indivisible relationship with the destination (Kals, Schumacher, & Montada, 1999). ...
This study examines the causal relationships between place attachment, destination attractiveness and environmentally responsible behavior (ERB), and the mediating effect of place attachment. Four hundred and thirteen tourists were surveyed who had visited the Penghu islands, Taiwan. Structural Equation Modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects. Results show that the emotions and feelings (place attachment), which tourists have for Penghu, are positively associated with stronger ERB; the extent of attractiveness of island tourism as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. A higher level of tourists’ destination attractiveness in regard to island tourism is associated with stronger place attachment; place attachment was found to exert a significant effect in mediating the relationship between destination attractiveness and ERB. The study shows that when island tourists are attracted by and are attached to the destination, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. The study pioneers the integration of all three factors in a sustainable tourism behavior model designed for tourists who stay one night or more at a destination, and tests the hypotheses for the first time in an Asian destination. Management implications and recommendations for the sustainable development of Penghu islands tourism are provided.
For growers of insect-pollinated crops, protection or creation of on-farm semi-natural habitats (SNHs) is often recommended as a strategy for increasing pollinator diversity to achieve enhanced and resilient yields. Despite these recommendations, we are unaware of a clear roadmap on how to design locally-appropriate SNHs, or how such habitats fit within wider sustainability frameworks. Few of the existing frameworks explicitly include designing SNHs, to support diverse and proven crop pollinating species that can enhance yields. Taking New Zealand as a case study, we assess the current interest and adoption of designed SNH plantings by primary industry bodies, national and local governments, and restoration trusts, along with how they fit into their land management strategies. We propose five key steps for land managers designing on-farm native plantings that support targeted crop pollinators and their service provision. These are: identification of crop pollinators, understanding their interactions with native plant species, selection of plant species based on interactions, establishment of chosen plants, and verification of crop pollination by pollinators associated with the plantings. These steps not only serve as a roadmap for designing and testing SNHs across different farming systems but also provide a foundation for evaluating crop pollinator diversity in a variety of naturally occurring habitats. By following this roadmap and incorporating on-farm native plantings strategically, we aim to foster pollinator diversity, enhance crop yields, and contribute to broader sustainability goals in agriculture.
This paper adopts a social constructionist perspective to examine how the biodiversity ‘claim’ is constructed and contested at local level. A framework is deployed which is based on Hannigan's (1995) ideas that certain factors need to be present for an environmental claim to be legitimised within the international arena (i.e. scientific authority; popularisers; media coverage; symbolic and visual dramatisation; economic incentives and institutional sponsorship). Empirical research into the production and implementation of Oxfordshire's Biodiversity Action Plan and Farm Biodiversity Action Plans in England and Scotland is used as a vehicle to explore the legitimisation of the biodiversity claim at the local scale. The two strands of research highlight the current importance of biodiversity as a focus for environmental planning partnerships (although the extent of public ‘buy-in’ to the claim is unclear) and the way in which biodiversity as a ‘buzzword’ has been adopted by farmers with some reluctance and mainly for financial reasons. There is strong evidence that the scientific basis of the claim is crucial in terms of engendering support, and that the rhetoric employed at the local level is positive rather than a ‘rhetoric of loss’. However, the need for further popularisation of the biodiversity issue is identified. Potential future lines of research enquiry are also outlined.
This critical review of more than three decades of studies of frames and framing in Social Movement (SM) research first offers a brief history of the notion of ‘frame’ in various disciplines, and then discusses empirical studies of frame alignment, frame disputes, frame resonance and master frames, among other notions. It is found that the very notion of discursive of cognitive frames remains very vague in these studies, and what are actually studied are for instance, beliefs, attitudes, goals, ideologies or values, especially how they are expressed in discourse. Also studies of relations between frames and culture, identity and discourse show that the notions of frames and framing are theoretically and methodologically unsatisfactory in empirical studies. It is concluded that the methods of the cultural paradigm of SM research may take advantage of the advances of more explicit methods in the study of language, discourse, interaction and cognition.
The purpose of this study is to explore what contributions a collaborative planning approach can make to achieving more sustainable solutions to the management of protected areas in Taiwan. Among the three designations of natural protected areas in Taiwan, the Wildlife Refuge is notable because its legal status provides more opportunities for stakeholder participation than other statutory designations. Drawing on a theory of collaborative planning advanced by Healey (1997, 1998a) this study provides an in-depth analysis of the history of the Formosan Landlocked Salmon Wildlife Refuge to evaluate the effectiveness of a collaborative approach to planning and management. A historical review of institutional practices suggests that several attempts have been made to move towards a more collaborative approach to natural areas planning and management in Taiwan. For example, devolution of power to the local government on a legal basis, some involvement of local people and conservation NGOs in the planning process on a legal basis, and establishment of formal instruments of policy, such as management plans and advisory committees. These are all ways of encouraging government institutions and scientists to work together in processes of planning and management. However, these practices mainly involve establishing formal arenas to foster the implementation of official 'plans' and their imposition on local areas. Local knowledge and local people are still marginalized in the planning process. Public meetings convened as part of the research were held with local farmers, tourists, and local management authorities and provided new inclusionary and communicative forums and arenas that were appreciated by most participants. The meetings discussed a range of issues based on local knowledge previously not addressed in traditional planning meetings. The meetings also involved local people who had previously been excluded from traditional planning processes. Such meetings brought together local people and the local management authorities in a face-to-face, consensus-building process. The meetings demonstrated how new political instruments designed to build social capacity amongst all relevant stakeholders can be used as a means of mobilising collaborative actions associated with the management of the local area. Detailed qualitative analysis of the record of these public meetings reveals that the main management problem of the Formosan Salmon Refuge Area arises from the different priorities given by stakeholders to two concepts: 'livelihoods of people' and 'the well-being of wildlife.' A sustainable solution to the long term management of the area will require a continuing programme of collaborative planning so that agreement can be reached about how these two goals can be reconciled. Recommendations about the forms such approaches might take are suggested based on a theoretically informed and explicit evaluation of the case study.
This study aims to show how different positions on environmental conservation in agricultural management affect the ability of conventional and organic farmers to cooperate. The data for this study
consists of semi-structured interviews with farmers from the Pomurje
region in Slovenia and is analyzed by means of mutual comparison
and relevant literature. It shows how nearly opposite views as to what
constitutes “good farming”, together with strong convictions about their peers’ practices, impede cooperation between conventional and organic farmers.
This paper investigates how farmers' understanding of nature and its protection influences their decisions on the uptake of nature protection measures, including agri-environmental (AEM) and greening measures. It aims to answer two research questions: (1) How do agricultural producers understand nature and nature protection? and (2) How does producers' understanding of nature influence their decisions on and choices of nature protection measures? Taking an institutional economics approach to behaviour, we scrutinise if and to what extend the objectives and beliefs constituting a reason for action incorporate nature-related considerations. The results generated by a case study in Lower Saxony (Germany) suggest that distinct understanding of nature and nature protection are a constituent of farmers' decisions on nature protection measures. Producers doubt the positive nature-related effects of some agri-environmental and greening measures whose design does not correspond to the central aspects of their understanding of nature. They prefer implementing measures of their own design and on own initiative to participation in AEM, and choose to cultivate cover crops with apparent environmental effects to fulfil the greening requirements. The enhancement of nature protection in agriculture requires improvement in advisory services to farmers and the revision of the governance of nature protection in agriculture.
Recently, a number of “Payment for Watershed Services” programs have aimed to engage private landowners in watershed stewardship initiatives by offering financial incentives for adopting watershed best management practices. However, a growing field of research suggests that financial incentives alone may be of limited utility to encourage widespread and long-standing behavior change, and other policy tools may be required. This research examines how attitudes may influence enrollment in watershed stewardship programs to shed light the application of incentive, capacity building, and symbolic policy tools. We distributed a questionnaire to rural landowners in the Clackamas River watershed, OR, and received 281 valid responses (29% response rate). We found that attitudes associated with trust, ecological understanding, and technical capacity played more fundamental roles compared with financial considerations. We interpret these findings by evaluating the likely efficacy of various policy tools, and stress the importance of engaging landowners by building capacity and trust.
High Nature Value farming systems cover a large proportion of the agricultural land in marginal and mountain areas of Europe. These large areas face environmental, economic and social challenges and formulating policies that support all these aspects is difficult. Although farmers play an important role in maintaining the ecological diversity of these areas, their differing management styles are often not recognised when land use policies are formulated. This paper examines these issues using an optimisation model based on an extensive livestock farm in Western Scotland, where four farmers' management styles are combined with a series of six alternative future land use scenarios, to provide a more realistic and robust insight of policy impacts on land use and habitat, labour and farm income. The management styles derived from a typology that was based on a composite of both available resources and attitudinal components. The six alternative scenarios encompassed competitive land use diversification options (woodland and wild deer shooting), abandonment of native pasture for agriculture, no support, high market prices for livestock products, and increased animal efficiency. Although diversification via forestry was found to be potentially central to increasing farming incomes, farmers' reticence to adopt forestry or any diversification was a major constraint. This case study also reinforced that managing livestock on these HNV farming systems was not economical unless support subsidies were in place. The only scenario which could enhance the HNV biodiversity value on farms was one with high market prices, resulting in the most varied land use (sheep, cattle and forestry). All others scenarios meant an increase in afforestation (which displaced livestock), an increase in livestock grazing or abandonment of the land, none of which would maintain biodiversity in these areas. Very few scenarios were able to increase on-farm labour demand and although greater flexibility in farm labour was found to be essential, labour scarcity in these marginal mountain areas remained a problem. In conclusion, this case study reinforced that farmers' management style and motivation do play a major role on how they respond to policies, and unless this role is acknowledged by policy-makers, these European HNV areas may not be targeted properly for the most desired outcomes and sustainability.
The relationship between geography and public policy in the UK has recently been the subject of lively debate in two leading geographical journals - the 'Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers' and 'Process in Human Geography'. This paper draws on this debate to provide a framework for exploring rural geography's relationship with agri-environment policy (AEP); an area of public policy designed to improve the environmental sustainability of the agricultural sector and which has been developing apace since the mid 1980s. Three areas of rural geographical research on AEP are identified and discussed: farmer participation studies; institutional and political analyses of AEP; and post-structural analyses of AEP. The paper concludes with a consideration of the depth and impact on policy of this body of research and makes suggestions for improving its policy reach.
This study concerns a protected area in northern Greece and examines how local people's occupation influences their perception of environmental impacts and their views and information about the area. The target groups were local residents that (a) were employed in the primary sector, (b) were employed in other economic sectors, and (c) were students or high-school seniors. Use of pesticides and fertilizers and industrial waste disposal were identified as sources of environmental impacts by the large majority of the total sample (>80%). Much lower (30-62%) was the perception of impacts from the other, more local stress sources. Primary-sector respondents (mostly farmers) scored lower in their environmental perceptivity; nevertheless, they were highly aware that some of their practices have negative impacts on the environment. Students outperformed the other groups in having visited the local information centre and in having attended an environmental information/ awareness event about the protected area; despite this, they also had the highest proportions of 'don't-know' answers. Small differences (even less than 5 km) in the distance of respondents' residence from the protected area led to significant differences in environmental perceptivity. There is both a need for and interest from the local people to get better informed. As sufficient knowledge of the area and of the threats to its integrity is a requirement for the adoption and acceptance of measures aiming to moderate such threats, environmental information/ awareness events should be organized by the managing authorities. These should focus on issues specific to the area rather than of general environmental nature and target primarily people employed in the primary sector that live close to the protected area and students.
Ecological restoration as a popular form of volunteer participation has been praised as an example of democratic natural resource management. However, the involvement of volunteers in projects guided by professionals does not necessarily ensure democratic knowledge exchange and production. Drawing insights from citizen science and political ecology, this paper investigates the role of science in mediating the dynamics between professional practitioners and volunteers. Using case studies of ecological restoration programs at two university arboreta in the American Midwest, this paper argues that the contrasting visions of science between professional practitioners and volunteers led to conflicts and presented challenges for the institutions to genuinely engage the public in contributing local knowledge and framing management priorities. While both groups emphasized the practical aspect of science in guiding restoration work, they differed in how they conceptualized the role of humans in restoration, work priorities, and how to apply scientific theories and methods in restoration. Moreover, at the university arboreta, science defined institutional identity and claims to scientific authority further delineated boundaries between professional practitioners and volunteers. As a result, distrust, tensions, lack of engagement, and different levels of desired public participation existed in these seemingly participatory programs. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the cross-fertilization between citizen science and political ecology by underscoring the politics of participation and the role of science (and its interpretations) in challenging expert-lay dynamics in environmental volunteering programs. Practical recommendations are included for deconstructing the expert-lay hierarchy and moving restoration toward a democratic practice.
It is accepted that the effective uptake of academic research into policy and practice requires the active involvement of stakeholders. However, understanding participation from the perspectives of stakeholders remains poorly understood. We show that non-academic participants bring multiple knowledges and expertises vital to research. We demonstrate that flexibility in terms of how research is framed, conducted and in the meaning of what constitutes “success” is crucial. We argue that research needs to move towards co-produced transdisciplinary research. In doing so, research can be more representative of stakeholder interests and knowledges, and also make important contributions to academic impact.
This publication summarizes material presented at internal group discussions and research reports, as well as from a seminar involving people from the voluntary conservation movement, local authorities and consultants, with a bias towards woodland in England. These are four main sections, the first three of which discuss: English Nature's Habitat Fragmentation Group and examples of fragmentation issues in nature conservation; fragmentation effects in the English landscape, including barrier creation, edge effects and indirect consequences of fragmentation on management; and habitats and species which are sensitive to fragmentation, emphasizing factors such as patch size and isolation and identifying sensitive species. The fourth section examines the mitigation of fragmentation, with suggestions for translocation and habitat creation, an integrated approach to landscape restoration; and for further research and monitoring. Lastly, conclusions about habitat fragmentation are presented, which it is believed can be applied to conservation practice.
The environmental policies of the 1980s and those related to the 1992 CAP reforms are now in need of further reform. The prime criterion for reformed policies must be the degree to which they deliver the environmental benefits specifed and the degree to which they move away from present policies focussed on payments for income foregone and move instead towards benefits delivered. Five related options are discussed. First, extending the coverage of schemes especially beyond designated areas and concentrating on outputs rather than inputs. Second, making transaction costs more cost effective. Third, providing observable and enforceable provisions within schemes. Fourth, extending the length of schemes. Fifth, considering new forms of property rights including public land ownership, covenants and trust ownerships.
The UK Biodiversity Steering Group recommends that local Biodiversity Action Plans should be prepared for all parts of the country. This paper reviews the preparation of such a plan in Somerset and draws some conclusions. The plan was based largely on existing sources of data which were collated by a geographical informatation system. This identified four Prime Biodiversity Areas. Action plans were then draw up for five habitats and ten species with monitoring to be carried out every five years. Although a useful exercise critics have pointed out that real influence is held not by the planners but by landowners and statutory agencies, and so it is suggested these groups draw up their own plans. Another problem is the lack of detailed enough data. The author concludes that Biodiversity Action Plans are important and that they should be based on good data rather than being rushed.
Agenda 21 has come to be the most significant outcome of the Rio Summit for local government in the UK and Local Agenda 21 is emerging as the main driver for the development of local policies and programmes for sustainable development. In general, the work is being undertaken by those charged with the development of environmental policy in local authorities. Sustainability is seen as a natural extension of environmental policy work, and survey results presented confirm a gradual emergence of LA21 work from an environmental focus to a strategic approach to issues of environment, economic development, social welfare and accessibility. The level of awareness of LA21 and commitment to it in general terms appear high, but survey results suggest that the full implications of the agenda, particularly those relating to new approaches to partnership, participation and democracy, have not yet been addressed by all authorities. The author suggests that problems of corporatisation of LA21 and its relationship with traditional democratic structures remain to be tackled. The potential for the consensual approach in tackling issues of ‘hard sustainability’ is also discussed.
Conservation practice has recently begun to be transformed by the rhetoric of creative ecology and the possibility of creating (or re‐creating) desired ecological conditions. This paper explores the potential conflict between these new developments and the conservation movement's long‐standing dependence on a widely‐shared (and widely disseminated) sense of ‘the naturalness’ of habitats and landscapes, and fear of their destruction. Conservation has long been driven by fear of loss of habitat, familiar features of landscapes, and of specific places. The paper discusses the potential for creative conservation to be carried out in such a way that its potential gains can be realized without cutting off the cultural engine of concern that drives conservation forwards.
This study analyses the environmental impact of the Cambrian Mountains ESA scheme (1A northern part) through a 100% census survey of farmers in the area. It is argued that farmers’ knowledge of ecological change on their farms provides useful information about ecological change induced by agri‐environmental schemes, and that this important source of information has been neglected by researchers in the past. The results suggest that while the ESA has been successful at halting the further decline of threatened habitats in the area at the landscape level (i.e. quantity of habitat), it has done little to improve the quality of these ecosystems. Further, the ESA scheme has done little to change farmers’ commitment toward environmentally sensitive farming, and more environmental education of farmers (as stipulated in EU Regulation 2078/92/EEC, for example) is needed to make the ESA scheme environmentally sustainable in the long term.
Surveys of attitudes to conservation on farms conducted between 1983 and 1985 in Bedfordshire showed farmers to be as sympathetic to the idea as conservationists, at a superficial level. However, detailed analysis of attitudes to specific conservation-related farm management practices such as hedge removal, using the theory of reasoned action as an investigative tool, revealed the deep-seated divisions which exist between the two groups. Correlations between farmers' attitudes and behaviour showed that attitudes to farm productivity, efficency and tidiness dominated management decisions to the exclusion of wildlife considerations. The importance of guiding attitude and behaviour change at a time of profound agricultural uncertainty, to avoid overt conflict between farmers and conservationists and promote conservation on farmland, is discussed.
This paper examines the development of a policy for the provision of free conservation advice to farmers in England by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and ADAS. It explores the nature and extent of current advisory provision. Drawing on a policy evaluation of advice provision undertaken for MAFF, the paper examines the effectiveness of advice from three perspectives: the quality of written advice, the extent to which advice is accepted and acted upon by farmers, the evidence of conservation practice from on‐site assessments. The paper concludes with a consideration of some of the policy issues that emerge, particularly the need for an improved system of co‐ordination and delivery.
This paper analyses social constructions of nature in different discursive contexts and the ways in which particular representations of nature are used to legitimate specific institutional policies and practices. The proposal to create a commercial and entertainment development on the Rainham Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in east London provides the case study. Drawing on arguments from media sociology and the sociology of risk, the paper explores the identification of distinctive myths of nature associated with particular sociopolitical formations within the discourses of developers, conservationists, the media and the public. Detailed ethnographic research reveals how the developers and conservationists employed different constructions of nature to justify their respective positions and how different local audiences made sense of competing claims about the relative worth of the 'nature' on their doorsteps.
This paper reports findings from research which sought to examine the characteristics and the behaviour of farms which participate in environmentally friendly farming schemes and initiatives. In contrast with some earlier work in other regions, a wide variety of farmers in the south-west sample had an active level of sympathy or interest in conservation issues, which, despite the broad and at times inaccurate conservation definitions employed by the farmers, led some to spend generously on creative activities, especially woodland planting. However, the importance of geographical influences was paramount, with creative conservation activity almost always undertaken on comparatively poorer land. Poorer land was always most suitable for conservation work, whether that work be done for cosmetic or holistic reasons.
In Britain in the late 1980s, farming was one significant arena for environmental politics. At a time when overproduction and the protectionist policies of the European Economic Community combined to prompt economic questions about the intensive methods of capitalist agriculture, conservationists found a larger audience for their protestations that such methods also destroyed or degraded the countryside. In the ensuing debates farmers made several, at times conflicting, kinds of defences which were all none the less aimed at maintaining their continuing control over the countryside. All of these defences arose in the ways they constructed farming through their everyday activities in farmwork. The article uses a case study of the livestock farmers of the Upper Yorkshire Dales to demonstrate that, in contrast to farmers' national positions, the various strands of debate, summarised as business versus nurture, did not present themselves as contradiction in the culture of farmwork. It was only when farmers were forced to confront other definitions of farming and the countryside that any tensions between business and nurture emerged for them. This movement from accommodation to conflict was what produced the contradictory messages which farmers appeared to be giving about farming and the environment within the wider environment debates.
This paper explores the opportunities for integrating nature conservation and agricultural policy, and the need for targeting to ensure cost-effectiveness. Nature conservation objectives are stated and the impact of the modernization of farming on wildlife, that wildlife habitats become ‘peripheral’ to the farming system rather than ‘integral’, is described. The key need is for policies that reflect regional differences in wildlife and different qualities of habitats, that fit the farm systems present, and ensure that habitat creation occurs in the most appropriate places. These requirements are illustrated by reference to current policy mechanisms, and potential developments to achieve more effective targeting are discussed.
This paper examines the implications for conservation of an agricultural sociostructural policy that in recent years has come closer to resembling a policy for farm survival than of liquidation. It begins by exploring how far the preservation of existing farm structures is necessary if conservation goals are to be achieved. The paper goes on to assess on this basis whether a farm survival policy will further or retard the conservation effort in a period of farming contraction. The offering of income aids to fanners who, in return agree to make their farming practices more environmentally sensitive, is the most direct and powerful way a farm survival policy can be arranged to benefit conservation.
In this paper we present the discussions of the Eltham group in the Greenwich Open-Space project, as a case study of the contributions that in-depth small groups can make in the study of environmental values. The major themes of the group discussions are presented and extracts of dialogue illustrate several aspects of small-group dynamics: how the group establishes its identity, how members negotiate increasing levels of intimacy and trust, how they handle conflict among themselves, and how they deal with termination. These themes demonstrate the importance of the group matrix, the levels of manifest and latent meaning in discourse, and the role of the conductor in facilitating the group structure and processes. We conclude that in-depth small groups are a valuable research strategy for the exploration of the interpenetration of individual and collective values for environment.
Empirical qualitative research is gaining recognition within social and humanistic geography, although the 'small group' is not yet recognised as a valuable research technique. In this paper we review the use of once-only group interviews in social and market research, and then discuss the principles of Group-analytic psychotherapy as a way of conducting in-depth small groups. By means of a discussion of the Greenwich Open-Space project, we explore the methodological issues involved in conducting in-depth small groups with local people, discuss the interpretive strategies which can be used to handle large amounts of linguistic data, and present the major findings from the project.
The naturalists are dying off. Area Scheme: a case for using farmers' environ-mental knowledge?
- R F Noss
Noss, R. F. (1996). The naturalists are dying off. Area Scheme: a case for using farmers' environ-mental knowledge? Landscape Research 22(3), Conservation Biology 10, 1–3.
Landwise or land foolish? Free farm survival policy
- M Winter
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