Human–wildlife interaction networks at urban blue spaces

Abstract

Human–wildlife interactions in urban areas are known to be important as they can promote nature connectedness and improve human well‐being. Most work has looked at human–wildlife interactions at greenspaces, but blue spaces have considerable potential as foci for interactions. We investigated human–wildlife interactions at three urban blue spaces in Lincoln, UK. At each location, the interactions and their duration between humans and wildlife were recorded over a period of 5 months. Questionnaires were also distributed to persons visiting these blue spaces. Interaction networks showed that waterfowl (swans, geese, ducks) were responsible for most human–wildlife interactions, with most interactions taking place in the two more urban sites, but a more diverse interaction network was found at the more natural site. User group and location were found to be significantly associated in determining both the duration and the frequency of interactions. All participants at all sites placed a very high value of importance on urban blue spaces. Our results demonstrate that blue spaces are important as foci for human–wildlife interactions and that key species are responsible for most interactions. In turn, this these interactions can promote greater connectedness to nature and long term may promote an affinity to protect the local environment.