TY - JOUR

T1 - Non-material contributions of nature expressed by former tourists of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

AU - Pearson, Jasmine

AU - Gross, Milena

AU - Hofmann, Johanna

N1 - We would like to thank the participants of this study who were kind enough to take the time to share their personal stories and perspectives from their journey hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. A special thank you to Prof. Dr. Berta Martín‐López and Dr. Ugo Arbieu for their ongoing support and guidance throughout this project. This project was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Kili‐SES SP3 MA 7670/2‐1) and this publication was funded by the DFG within the 'Open Access Publication Funding' programme. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

PY - 2024/2

Y1 - 2024/2

N2 - Nature-based tourism provides an outlet for people to experience non-material nature's contributions to people (NCP) and can even promote care for nature. Yet, the literature on NCP is still dominated by studies on regulating and material NCP, with limited research on non-material contributions. Semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation methods were conducted online with 38 former tourists who have hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to investigate NCP experiences during their hiking journey. Drawing on the guiding principles of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an interwoven approach was used to link context-specific NCP expressed by tourists to the generalizing perspective. Ten context-specific non-material NCP emerged including Aesthetic experiences; Learning and life-changing perspectives; New and unique experiences; and Social cohesion and bonding. All context-specific NCP were linked back to the generalizing perspective, with most NCP falling under the generalizing category of Physical and psychological experiences. This paper reveals the unique and diverse ways that nature contributes to people's lives, promoting the visibility of multiple perspectives and their incorporation into biodiversity conservation and sustainable management strategies. Through an interwoven approach, NCP can be compared on a universal scale while respecting the context-specificity of human–nature interactions across different social-ecological contexts. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

AB - Nature-based tourism provides an outlet for people to experience non-material nature's contributions to people (NCP) and can even promote care for nature. Yet, the literature on NCP is still dominated by studies on regulating and material NCP, with limited research on non-material contributions. Semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation methods were conducted online with 38 former tourists who have hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to investigate NCP experiences during their hiking journey. Drawing on the guiding principles of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an interwoven approach was used to link context-specific NCP expressed by tourists to the generalizing perspective. Ten context-specific non-material NCP emerged including Aesthetic experiences; Learning and life-changing perspectives; New and unique experiences; and Social cohesion and bonding. All context-specific NCP were linked back to the generalizing perspective, with most NCP falling under the generalizing category of Physical and psychological experiences. This paper reveals the unique and diverse ways that nature contributes to people's lives, promoting the visibility of multiple perspectives and their incorporation into biodiversity conservation and sustainable management strategies. Through an interwoven approach, NCP can be compared on a universal scale while respecting the context-specificity of human–nature interactions across different social-ecological contexts. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

KW - cultural ecosystem services

KW - mountains

KW - nature's contributions to people (NCP)

KW - nature-based tourism

KW - non-material

KW - photovoice

KW - relational values

KW - social-ecological system

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181254724&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/fb9dcdd1-0168-3c1b-a812-5a1e77aa65ab/

U2 - 10.1002/pan3.10575

DO - 10.1002/pan3.10575

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85181254724

VL - 6

SP - 220

EP - 229

JO - People and Nature

JF - People and Nature

SN - 2575-8314

IS - 1

ER -