Abstract
The Society of Wilderness (SOW) is a non-governmental organization in Taiwan that relies on volunteers to protect nature through environmental education. Since volunteers play such an important role in natural resource preservation, more information is needed to understand their participation in SOW. The purpose of this study was to develop an interpretation specialization continuum of environmental volunteerism in Taiwan. A mail-back survey was administered to interpreters volunteering at Er-ge Mountain during the winter of 2005. Forty-five of 48 questionnaires were returned, yielding a 93.8% response rate. The resource knowledge and place attachment scores of volunteer interpreters were combined into a 2 x 2 matrix, thus providing one explanation for their level of activity involvement in SOW. Although volunteer interpreters were distributed throughout the continuum, results showed that highly specialized interpreters had greater activity involvement scores than those who were less specialized. Length of membership in SOW had no effect on their activity involvement scores. This specialization continuum addressed key managerial issues, such as recruitment and retention of volunteer interpreters.
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