TY - JOUR

T1 - Decision-making for nature’s contributions to people in the Cape Floristic Region

T2 - the role of values, rules and knowledge

AU - Topp, Emmeline

AU - Loos, Jacqueline

AU - Martín-López, Berta

N1 - Funding text 1 Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LO 2323/1–1), awarded to JL. Funding text 2 Our thanks go to Sarah Pendle, Katharina Talanow and Arnold van der Westhuizen for translation and transcription. We thank Annabelle Braasch for the design of icons. We are very grateful to all the land managers who participated in the study for their willingness and openness to support our research. The Robert-Bosch Foundation supports JL through a Junior Professorship for Research into Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. We also thank two anonymous reviewers who provided helpful comments and insights on previous versions of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/5

Y1 - 2022/5

N2 - Nature conservation on privately owned land depends on land managers’ decision-making. Interactions between values, rules and knowledge (vrk) underpin decision-making, thus, it is important to understand these interactions to support conservation intentions. We investigated how different sets of vrk determine the decision-making context regarding the management and conservation of renosterveld, a critically endangered ecosystem in the Cape Floristic Region, and how this relates to land managers’ perceptions of nature’s contributions to people (NCP). From interviews with thirty land managers, we identified nine value types, four rule types, three knowledge types and 13 different NCP. We found that different vrk combinations can be grouped into three decision-making contexts: Bottom-up conservation, Top-down conservation and Utility. Each context is associated with the perception of different beneficial and detrimental NCP. Regulating NCP are perceived across all contexts, whereas more non-material NCP are associated with a Bottom-up conservation context and relational values, such as family ties. The prevalence of relational values in Bottom-up and Top-down conservation contexts illustrates the complexity and non-substitutability of the dynamic relationships between renosterveld and people. This indicates the importance of plural valuation in nature conservation to foster diverse NCP provided by renosterveld.

AB - Nature conservation on privately owned land depends on land managers’ decision-making. Interactions between values, rules and knowledge (vrk) underpin decision-making, thus, it is important to understand these interactions to support conservation intentions. We investigated how different sets of vrk determine the decision-making context regarding the management and conservation of renosterveld, a critically endangered ecosystem in the Cape Floristic Region, and how this relates to land managers’ perceptions of nature’s contributions to people (NCP). From interviews with thirty land managers, we identified nine value types, four rule types, three knowledge types and 13 different NCP. We found that different vrk combinations can be grouped into three decision-making contexts: Bottom-up conservation, Top-down conservation and Utility. Each context is associated with the perception of different beneficial and detrimental NCP. Regulating NCP are perceived across all contexts, whereas more non-material NCP are associated with a Bottom-up conservation context and relational values, such as family ties. The prevalence of relational values in Bottom-up and Top-down conservation contexts illustrates the complexity and non-substitutability of the dynamic relationships between renosterveld and people. This indicates the importance of plural valuation in nature conservation to foster diverse NCP provided by renosterveld.

KW - Sustainability Science

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Local ecological knowledge

KW - Private land conservation

KW - Relational values

KW - Renosterveld

KW - South Africa

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Local ecological knowledge

KW - Private land conservation

KW - Relational values

KW - Renosterveld

KW - South Africa

KW - ecosystem services

KW - local ecological knowledge

KW - private land consercation

KW - Relational values

KW - Renosterveld

KW - South Africa

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099213344&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11625-020-00896-6

DO - 10.1007/s11625-020-00896-6

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 17

SP - 739

EP - 760

JO - Sustainability Science

JF - Sustainability Science

SN - 1862-4065

IS - 3

ER -