Open AccessLocal support for conservation is associated with perceptions of good governance, social impacts, and ecological effectiveness
Author(s) -
Bennett Nathan J.,
Di Franco Antonio,
Calò Antonio,
Nethery Elizabeth,
Niccolini Federico,
Milazzo Marco,
Guidetti Paolo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
conservation letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.153
H-Index - 79
ISSN - 1755-263X
DOI - 10.1111/conl.12640
Subject(s) - corporate governance , marine protected area , scale (ratio) , environmental resource management , survey data collection , perception , ordinal regression , multilevel model , business , ecology , environmental planning , geography , economics , psychology , biology , statistics , cartography , mathematics , finance , neuroscience , machine learning , habitat , computer science
Local 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.