Abstract
In order to achieve the commitments regarding conservation and restoration of biodiversity, the public must get involved. Several measures to conserve and restore biodiversity are being used on the basis of their ecological efficiency. These would, however, be more efficient if they also are socially anchored. The objectives of the project are: i) to describe public support for various biodiversity conservation measures in broadleaf deciduous forest in Scania as compared to the perceived intrusion on personal activities ii) to identify similarities and differences among local residents, landholders/users and visitors iii) to analyse the psychological foundation of public acceptance of conservation measures. The project is based on theories of environmental psychology and landscape planning, and carried out in co-operation with the Swedish Forest Agency. The empirical work will consist of four subsequent studies. Study 1 develops a scale of acceptance of conservation measures by the Q-sort method. Study 2 employs the scale in a field study. Study 3 validates tools for Study 4, which is a web-survey investigating the relative importance of various psychological factors to acceptance of conservation measures, carried out in a larger sample and under controlled environmental conditions. The results increase the understanding of the public's view of conservation measures and can thereby point to the "social efficiency" of various measures.
Sweden