Understanding individual risk perceptions and preferences for climate change adaptations in biological conservation

Too little attention has been paid to the psychological factors (e.g., beliefs and perceptions) that determine the acceptability of conservation measures, despite the fact that all conservation occurs within a social context. Climate change in particular will demand adaptation strategies that may be cognitively difficult to accept. We conducted a survey online (n = 312) to examine preferences and perceived risks associated with a set of proposed adaptation strategies in a sample of the public. Preferences for proposed adaptation policies were significantly and negatively correlated with perceived risk in every case. Preferences also exhibited widespread conservatism with the greatest acceptance for measures most similar to the status quo, while environmental worldview and emotions of fear and anger appeared to influence perceived risk and acceptability. These results suggest that conservation planning should include considerations for risk perceptions, and greater support for certain conservation measures may be generated by deemphasizing their perceived novelty and emphasizing their contemporary usage.