Abstract
Public support for protected areas depends, in part, upon clear demonstrations of the importance of the ecosystem services provided by these areas. However, only a limited number of studies have examined the value of protected areas in providing these services, and even less work has assessed how equitably these benefits are distributed across society. We used on-site surveys to characterize people who derived recreational benefit from a set of areas in the United Kingdom that were originally protected for their conservation value. We found that an unrepresentative subset of society enjoyed this benefit. Site visitor populations were biased towards older people and men, and minority groups were starkly underrepresented, comprising only 1% of overall visitors. When the characteristics of visitors were examined, the more privileged sectors of society were found to have received disproportionate benefits. These biases persisted across weekday and weekend visits and whether sites were considered altogether or individually. Conservation goals will only be met if broad public support for the natural environment is engaged and maintained, for example, through nature recreation. However, our results suggest that at present a worrying disconnect exists between public conservation efforts and much of society.
Highlights
Protected areas are central to efforts to conserve biodiversity
475 questionnaires covering 1095 people were completed across the 13 sites (Table 1), and we collected 471 postcodes that could be mapped to Mosaic data
The discrepancy in the numbers of postcodes collected and questionnaires completed resulted from a combination of incorrect postcodes, multiple postcodes on a single questionnaire, and no postcodes
Summary
Protected areas are central to efforts to conserve biodiversity. These areas provide diverse benefits to people (Ingraham and Foster 2008, Eigenbrod et al 2009). Areas in the United Kingdom (UK) originally protected because they contained specific species or habitats of conservation interest are being evaluated based on their ecological success and on their ability to provide recreation services, educational opportunities, and other means of resource utilization (Gaston et al 2006). Areas in the United States originally designated for recreation because of their scenery and landscape are being evaluated for their ability to support biodiversity conservation (Dunk et al 2006)
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