Intrinsic, instrumental and relational values behind nature’s contributions to people preferences of nature visitors in Germany

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Protected areas not only provide biodiversity conservation but also offer a multitude of nature’s contributions to people (NCP), such as recreational opportunities. Visitors to these areas value nature and NCP for various reasons, potentially leading to different arguments for conservation planning. So far, research has neglected the heterogeneity of reasons why visitors value nature and NCP in natural areas. In this study, we identified NCP preferences and elicited diverse values underpinning those preferences, i.e. intrinsic, instrumental and relational values. We analysed 127 semi-structured interviews with nature visitors of three regions encompassing protected areas across Germany including Schorfheide-Chorin (North East), Hainich-Dün (Central), and Schwäbische Alb (South West). We found that relational values resonated more broadly than intrinsic and instrumental values. We also found a connection between NCP preferences and the values underpinning them: regulating NCP were mostly associated with care and stewardship, instrumental values and social responsibility. In contrast, non-material NCP were mostly associated with therapeutic values and aesthetic values. Moreover, we found that socio-demographic factors–i.e. age, gender, income, education–and sustainable consumption patterns influenced the expression of different values. For instance, intrinsic values resonated more broadly for women than for men. We showed geographic differences in NCP preferences and their corresponding values across the regions. The results show that NCP values and preferences can be diverse within stakeholder groups and that research approaches need to be chosen carefully to be able to reveal this diversity. We conclude that value pluralism is fundamental to understanding underlying mechanisms in NCP research.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummer2342361
ZeitschriftEcosystems and People
Jahrgang20
Ausgabenummer1
Anzahl der Seiten17
ISSN2639-5908
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 07.2024

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
This work has been (partly) funded by the DFG Priority Program 1374 \u201CBiodiversity Exploratories\u201D (433163377) through the project \u201CEffects of land management on the Supply and Distribution of ecosystem services (ESuDis)\u201D. We gratefully acknowledge the support of iDiv funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG-FZT 118, 202548816) and additional funding provided by the ValuGaps project funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF 01UT2103A). MFL contract was partially supported by the RYC2021-032828-I grant, financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and by the European Union \u201CNextGenerationEU\u201D/PRTR. We thank the managers of the three Exploratories, Max M\u00FCller, Julia Bass, Robert K\u00FCnast, Miriam Teuscher, Anna K. Franke, Franca Marian and all former managers for their work in maintaining the plot and project infrastructure; Victoria Grie\u00DFmeier for giving support through the central office, Andreas Ostrowski for managing the central database, and Markus Fischer, Eduard Linsenmair, Dominik Hessenm\u00F6ller, Daniel Prati, Ingo Sch\u00F6ning, Fran\u00E7ois Buscot, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Wolfgang W. Weisser and the late Elisabeth Kalko for their role in setting up the Biodiversity Exploratories project. We thank the administration of the Hainich national park, the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Swabian Alb and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Schorfheide-Chorin as well as all landowners for the excellent collaboration.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

DOI