Abstract
AbstractLocal support is important for the longevity of conservation initiatives. The literature suggests that perceptions of ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good governance will influence levels of local support for conservation. This paper examines these relationships using data from a survey of small‐scale fishermen in 11 marine protected areas from six countries in the Mediterranean Sea. The survey queried small‐scale fishermen regarding perceptions and support for conservation. We constructed composite scores for three categories of perceptions—ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good governance—and tested the relationship with levels of support using ordinal regression models. While all three factors were positively correlated with support for conservation, perceptions of good governance and social impacts were stronger predictors of increasing support. These findings suggest that employing good governance processes and managing social impacts may be more important than ecological effectiveness for maintaining local support for conservation.
Highlights
Conservation initiatives—such as marine and terrestrial protected areas—are often situated near resource-based communities whose livelihoods and well-being depend on the local environment
Using data collected from a survey of small-scale fishermen in 11 marine protected areas (MPAs) across six countries in the Mediterranean Sea, this paper examines how perceptions of ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good governance are associated with small-scale fishermen's levels of support for MPAs
This paper focuses on survey questions related to small-scale fishermen's perceptions of ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good governance as well as levels of support of small-scale fishermen for conservation
Summary
Conservation initiatives—such as marine and terrestrial protected areas—are often situated near resource-based communities whose livelihoods and well-being depend on the local environment. Attitudes toward and support for conservation are influenced by social norms (Jones, Andriamarovololona, & Hockley, 2008), demographic factors and socioeconomic status (Arjunan, Holmes, Puyravaud, & Davidar, 2006; Heinen & Shrivastava 2009), dependence on resources (Cinner, Sutton, & Bond, 2007; Webb, Mailiao, & Siar, 2004), presence of livelihood alternatives (Gelcich & Donlan 2015; McClanahan, Cinner, Kamakuru, Abunge, & Ndagala, 2008), place attachment (Cundill, Bezerra, De Vos, & Ntingana, 2017; Morishige et al, 2018), institutions and governance (Bennett & Dearden 2014; Sommerville, Jones, Rahajaharison, & Milner-Gulland, 2010), and values (Chan et al, 2016). Local people's perceptions of different factors related to a conservation initiative can influence attitudes, acceptability, and levels of support (Bennett, 2016; Sommerville et al, 2010)
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