Developing a conceptual framework for the attitude–intention–behaviour links driving illegal resource extraction in Bardia National Park, Nepal

Abstract

This research investigates households' attitudes, and the association between attitudes and illegal resource extraction behaviour at Bardia National Park in Nepal. Despite facing a number of problems households held predominantly positive attitudes towards the park and wildlife. Attitudes were influenced by the respondents' values towards conservation rather than incentives received. However, positive attitude and their general agreement with conservation efforts did not stop households' involvement in illegal resource extraction. We found that general factors, such as perception associated with the park and contextual variables, and behaviour-specific factors, such as perception of resource extraction, had an impact on behaviour. Behaviour-specific factors help to understand how individuals frame their behaviour and how this framing constrains or facilitates behavioural change. Similarly, general factor helps to understand why households engage in the behaviour. Therefore, it is important to consider both of these factors to understand actual behaviour. Our research shows that positive attitudes by themselves are not sufficient for changing behaviour. This indicates that interventions need to be directed to all parts of the causal chain from environmental awareness, to attitudes, to intention, and finally to actual behaviour; missing a link in the sequence will interrupt the whole process.