Abstract
In the current Anthropocene Era, with numerous escalating challenges for biodiversity conservation, the inclusion of the social dimension into management decisions regarding wildlife and protected areas is critical to their success. By conducting 354 questionnaires in a Mediterranean protected area (the Biosphere Reserve of Bardenas Reales, Northern Spain), we aim to determine sociodemographic factors influencing knowledge levels and perceptions of species and functional groups as, emblematic and threatened. We found that hunters and animal husbandry workers knew more species than other social actors. Additionally, the perception of functional groups as threatened or emblematic differed between social actor groups, with statistically significant associations between perceptions and the characteristics of respondents. Interestingly, we found that although elusive steppe species are globally considered as endangered, these species were the least known by all social actor groups and rarely perceived as emblematic. This research is a novel approach and provides a better understanding of how perceptions can facilitate conservation decisions, particularly regarding endangered speciesGraphic abstract
Highlights
Ainara Cortes-Avizanda and Berta Martın-Lopez contributed to this work
While steppe birds are the least mentioned, game species and avian scavengers were mentioned by 58% and 48% of respondents, respectively (Fig. 2b)
While game species, avian scavengers, and predators were considered as emblematic species by more than 33% of respondents, less than 20% of respondents considered these groups as threatened (Fig. 2b)
Summary
By conducting 354 questionnaires in a Mediterranean protected area, we aim to determine sociodemographic factors influencing knowledge levels and perceptions of species and functional groups as, emblematic and threatened. We aimed to provide an understanding of the factors influencing the knowledge and perceptions of species held by the different social actors: hunters, tourists, animal husbandry workers, and local inhabitants that live in the neighborhoods bordering the protected area
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