Abstract
Simple SummaryThe protection of pollinating insects depends on public support. Citizen science (CS) is frequently discussed as a way to promote interest and conservation action for pollinators. In cities, the drivers behind pollinator-friendly behaviour are largely unclear. We surveyed 111 community gardeners in Berlin and Munich, Germany, some of which were participating in a citizen science project. We created four different sets of generalized linear models to analyse how the gardeners’ pro-pollinator behaviour intentions and behaviour were explained by the gardener’s identity, emotions towards pollinators, attitudes towards pollinators and nature-relatedness. Respondents who were fascinated by pollinators, held positive attitudes, and felt joy about seeing pollinators reported intentions to protect or support pollinators. Similarly, joy about seeing pollinators was a predictor of participation in the CS project. We believe that CS may represent a pathway through which urban residents may become key actors in conservation projects within their nearby greenspaces.The conservation of pollinators requires social understanding to catalyse restoration action. Citizen science (CS) is discussed as a way to promote interest and action for pollinating insects. Yet, the drivers behind pro-pollinator behaviour are largely unclear, especially in urban areas. To better understand public engagement in pollinator conservation, we studied urban community gardeners’ identity, nature-relatedness, emotions, and attitudes toward pollinators and their intentions to get involved in pro-pollinator behaviour in their gardening practice. We surveyed community gardeners in Berlin and Munich, Germany, some of which were participating in a citizen science project. In this scientific study, we created four different sets of generalized linear models to analyse how the gardeners’ pro-pollinator behaviour intentions and behaviour were explained by socio-psychological factors. The responses of 111 gardeners revealed that gardeners that were fascinated by pollinators, held positive attitudes and felt joy about seeing pollinators reported intentions to protect or support pollinators, suggesting that fascination and joy can be harnessed for research and conservation on pollinators. Similarly, joy about seeing pollinators predicted participation in the CS project. We believe that CS may represent a pathway through which urban residents may become key actors in conservation projects within their nearby greenspaces.
Highlights
Citizen science (CS), the involvement of citizens in scientific research and/or knowledge production, is being widely discussed in the scientific community and in policy as an instrument to address major global problems including insect population decline [1,2,3,4].Insect pollinators have become a widespread research topic for CS projects
Our study shows the importance of emotions for pro-pollinator behaviour, providing new insight into the role of emotions in public engagement in nature conservation
We found that emotions had predictive potential on behaviour—here, the participation in a wild pollinator CS project
Summary
Insect pollinators have become a widespread research topic for CS projects. PEB is gaining in importance, as people are increasingly important actors in pollinator conservation [16,17,18]. This is especially the case in the management of home or public gardens. Participation in a pollinator CS project can be considered as PEB [21]. Despite this important link between CS participation and PEB, there are few insights about the factors that motivate gardeners’ pro-pollinator engagement
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