Can Google Trends data confirm the need for charismatic species to generate interest in conservation?

Abstract

In nature conservation and environmental protection, there is the thesis that charismatic flagship species generate a high level of public interest that can be used for nature conservation efforts. Among other things, Google Trends has already been introduced to analyse nature conservation issues. In this study, interest in selected charismatic species were compared with the terms ‘nature reserve’, ‘conservation’, ‘environmental protection’, and ‘endangered species’ from the field of nature and environmental protection in three selected English-speaking countries and worldwide by using Google Trends. Although some individual, selected terms, e.g. ‘panda’ or ‘thylacine’, could be valuable ambassadors for nature and environmental protection in certain regions, a more general benefit or need for charismatic species to generate interest in conservation and environmental issues was not clearly demonstrated in this study.