Public support for ecosystem restoration in the Hudson River Valley,USA

We applied the Theory of Planned Behavior to help understand the relationships between environmental beliefs, support for ecosystem restoration actions, and willingness to pay (WTP) for restoration and protection goals in the Hudson River estuary, New York State, USA. We conducted a mail survey with 3,000 randomly-chosen local residents of the Hudson River estuary in the fall of 1999. As hypothesized, the broad ecosystem restoration goals of the Hudson River Estuary Action Plan were more strongly supported than the corresponding specific implementation actions. We found that beliefs and past behavior were better explanatory variables than sociodemographic characteristics for explaining people's support for ecosystem restoration actions and WTP for restoration and protection goals. Because ecosystem restoration goals appear to be more generally acceptable than specific restoration actions, proponents of restoration programs should not become complacent about the need for active public outreach and involvement even if initial restoration program discussions have been low in controversy. Efforts to assess and foster support for ecosystem restoration should be targeted toward audiences identified on the basis of beliefs and past behaviors rather than on sociodemographic characteristics.     

小型企业的废弃物管理问题

中、小型企业缺乏有关企业社会责任活动的参与。尽管单独的中、小型企业对环境的影响不大,但中、小型企业集合起来对环境的影响还是很明显的。企业所有者-管理者的管理方式和道德观念会影响到企业的决策。因此,会对企业的环境行为有直接的影响。虽然,倡导利用环境保护建立企业竞争优势,但许多企业的实施成本是不可能转移给消费者的。本文简要的综述了有关文献后,报告了对这一问题的探索性调查,结果表明无论小企业的管理者怎样表达出对环境问题的关心,都不能转化为较好的废弃物管理。     

Coherence between marine and land use planning: public attitudes to landscapes in the context of siting a wind park along the Latvian coast of the Baltic Sea

The aim of this paper is to contribute to coherence in marine, coastal and land use planning and management from the perspective of landscape values. At a time when new sea uses are emerging and marine spatial planning laws and regulations are being adopted, but have not yet been put into practice, research studies are required that provide spatial planners with informed insights concerning public stakeholder attitudes to controversial policies. The undertaken research explored the attitudes of two important social groups (local residents and tourists/recreational users) regarding locating wind parks in the marine and/or terrestrial environment along the Latvian coast of the Baltic Sea. The results of the study indicate that both groups support land-based wind park development versus offshore. Moreover, the visibility of wind turbines influences the willingness of tourists to visit recreation sites and impacts directly on their duration of stay. Research findings indicate that policy makers and spatial planners from both marine and land domains should adopt a broader and more integrated approach when setting priorities and allocating space for development activities where both domains are involved.     

Evaluating the influence of nature connection and values on conservation attitudes at a tropical deforestation frontier

Inner phenomena, such as personal motivations for pursuing sustainability, may be critical levers for improving conservation outcomes. Most conservation research and policies, however, focus on external phenomena (e.g., ecological change or economic processes). We explored the factors shaping 9 conservation attitudes toward forest and wildlife protection among colonist farmers around an Amazonian deforestation frontier. Our data comprised 241 face-to-face quantitative surveys, complemented with qualitative insights from open-ended questionnaire responses and opportunistic semistructured interviews. To account for the full spectrum of possible inner motivations, we employed measures of nature connection (indicating biospheric motivation) and personal values organized around the traditionalism (traditionalist through to high openness to change) and universalism dimensions (egoistic through to altruistic motivations). We used averaged beta-binomial generalized linear models to assess the role of external factors (socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and environmental) and personal (inner) motivations on the variation in attitudes. Each attitude was modeled separately. The relative importance of each predictor was judged by the proportion of models where it appeared as significant. Proconservation views were expressed by the majority (at least 65%) of the respondents in 7 out of the 9 attitude models. The most consistent predictors were emotional nature connection and personal values (significant in 4–6 out of 9 models), rather than external phenomena (significant in 0–5 models). However, the poorest farmers had lower scores on the agreement with prioritizing nature over development (𝛽 = –0.52, 95% CI: –0.96 to –0.07). Qualitative data also indicated that economic barriers hinder forest conservation on farms. These results suggest that biospheric, traditionalistic, and altruistic motivations promote people's proconservation attitudes, but nurturing these latent motivations is unlikely to improve conservation outcomes if material poverty remains unaddressed. Integrating the inner–outer perspective into conservation thinking and practical interventions could foster environmental stewardship and increase human well-being.     

Developing a theoretical foundation to change road user behavior and improve traffic safety: Driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC)

Objectives: This study explored a theoretical model to assess the influence of culture on willingness and intention to drive under the influence of cannabis (DUIC). This model is expected to guide the design of strategies to change future DUIC behavior in road users.

Methods: This study used a survey methodology to obtain a nationally representative sample (n = 941) from the AmeriSpeak Panel. Survey items were designed to measure aspects of a proposed definition of traffic safety culture and a predictive model of its relationship to DUIC.

Results: Although the percentage of reported past DUIC behaviors was relatively low (8.5%), this behavior is still a significant public health issue—especially for younger drivers (18–29 years), who reported more DUIC than expected. Findings suggest that specific cultural components (attitudes, norms) reliably predict past DUIC behavior, general DUIC willingness, and future DUIC intention. Most DUIC behavior appears to be deliberate, related significantly to willingness and intention. Intention and willingness both appear to fully moderate the relationship between traffic safety culture and DUIC behavior.

Conclusions: This study explored a theoretical model to understand road user behavior involving drug (cannabis)-impaired driving as a significant risk factor for traffic safety. By understanding the cultural factors that increase DUIC behavior, we can create strategies to transform this culture and sustain safer road user behavior.     

A Short Survey Instrument to Segment Populations According to Their Attitudes Toward Science. Scale Development,Optimization and Assessment

ABSTRACT

Surveys play a key role in researching public perceptions of and attitudes toward science. Accordingly, there is a breadth of often-used survey instruments available which have also been adopted for segmentation analyses. Even though many of these segmentation solutions are similar in their aims, they often include a large numbers of variables, making it more difficult for other researchers to build on these solutions, as survey time is scarce. Therefore, we demonstrate how a large number of variables that were used for a comprehensive segmentation analysis can be reduced considerably without losing too much information. We develop and test a short survey instrument to segment populations according to their attitudes toward science. Results show that segmentation results can be replicated with over 90% accuracy by reducing the instrument from 20 to 10 variables. This reduction does not significantly affect the predictive power of segment attribution on three dependent variables, which suggests that many segmentation analyses could be similarly optimized, helping researchers save survey time and standardize segmentation analyses more.     

Factors influencing farmers' concerns regarding bovine tuberculosis in wildlife and livestock around Riding Mountain National Park

Despite intensive efforts over the last century to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB) in North America, several hotspots of infected wildlife and livestock remain, raising concerns that the disease will never be eradicated. The stress and frustration for a farmer caused by having a herd test positive for TB or living in an infected region can be substantial. The goal of this study was to investigate the concerns of farmers around Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) regarding the presence of TB in wildlife and livestock and conduct an exploratory analysis of causal factors. Data were collected from 786 farmers within 50 km of RMNP using a mail-back questionnaire. Overall, farmers indicated a high level of concern toward diseases in both wildlife and cattle relative to other concerns. The spatial variables that had the greatest influence on TB concern were both the distance of farms to the RMNP boundary and distance of farms to previous cases of TB. The most important aspatial factor associated with high TB concern was the frequency with which farmers observed elk on their land. These results underscore the important differences between 'objective' measures of risk, such as epidemiological estimates of disease prevalence, and subjective measures of disease concern, such as risk perception and acceptability of management actions. Written responses suggest that concerns regarding disease may affect how farmers view wildlife on their land and their relationship with neighbouring protected areas. Management activities that reduce the frequency of elk interactions with farms, but also recognize the complex relationship that farmers have with wildlife and protected areas, will be most effective in mitigating farmer concern regarding this important problem.     

Establishing components of community satisfaction with recycled water use through a structural equation model

The use of recycled water is being promoted through policy in many parts of the world with the aim of achieving sustainable water management. However there are some major barriers to the success of recycled water use policies and their instruments, in particular for potable reuse schemes. One of these barriers can be a lack of community support. Despite the critical nature of community attitudes to recycled water to the success of projects, they are often little understood. Further information is required to ensure the successful implementation of recycled water policy and to ensure sustainable management of water resources is achieved. The aim of this paper is to establish the key components of community satisfaction with recycled water. This was investigated through a case study of the Mawson Lakes population in South Australia, where recycled water is used for non-potable purposes through a dual water supply system (the 'recycled water system'). This paper reports results from a survey of 162 Mawson Lakes residents. A structural equation model (SEM) was developed and tested to explain and predict components of community satisfaction with recycled water use (for non-potable use) through the dual water supply system. Results indicate the components of satisfaction with recycled water use were an individual's positive perception of: the Water Authority's communication, trust in the Water Authority, fairness in the recycled water system's implementation, quality of the recycled water, financial value of the recycled water system, and risk associated with recycled water use (negative relationship). The results of this study have positive implications for the future management and implementation of recycled water projects in particular through dual water supply systems. The results indicate to water authorities and water policy developers guiding principles for community consultation with regards to the management of recycled water projects.     

A landscape of conservation philanthropy for U.S. land trusts

Finding ways to increase financial support is critical to conservation efforts. We used conservation fundraising data, unprecedented in their resolution, to reveal spatial patterns in philanthropic giving to a major land protection organization in the United States. We also quantified the relationship between the amount of effort devoted to fundraising and donations received. Around 40% of the variation in the propensity to give and overall value of gifts was explained by sociodemographic and other predictors. For example, education level had greater predictive capacity than income, political views, and other factors often considered important. Fundraising effort was strongly predictive of the amount donated in an area. Our model estimated a doubling of funds raised with a 5-fold increase of effort. Conservation organizations could use our statistical framework to inform efforts aimed at increasing philanthropic giving by identifying locations with large model residuals. An example application of our framework showed an almost 40% increase (US$200 million) in fundraising revenue for the case-study conservation organization.     

I will not go,I cannot go: cultural and social limitations of disaster preparedness in Asia,Africa, and Oceania

While much work has been invested in addressing the economic and technical basis of disaster preparedness, less effort has been directed towards understanding the cultural and social obstacles to and opportunities for disaster risk reduction. This paper presents local insights from five different national settings into the cultural and social contexts of disaster preparedness. In most cases, an early warning system was in place, but it failed to alert people to diverse environmental shocks. The research findings show that despite geographical and typological differences in these locations, the limitations of the systems were fairly similar. In Kenya, people received warnings, but from contradictory systems, whereas in the Philippines and on the island of Saipan, people did not understand the messages or take them seriously. In Bangladesh and Nepal, however, a deeper cultural and religious reasoning serves to explain disasters, and how to prevent them or find safety when they strike.