Perceived inclusivity and trust in protected area management decisions among stakeholders in Alaska
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Authors
The success of conservation initiatives often depends on the inclusion of diverse stakeholder interests in the decision-making process. Yet, there is a paucity of empirical knowledge concerning the factors that explain why stakeholders do—or do not— believe that they are meaningfully represented by government agencies. Our study provides insight into the relationship between trust and stakeholder perceptions of inclusivity in public land management decisions. Here, we focus on the U.S. state of Alaska, where almost two-thirds of the land area are managed by the federal government. We used structural equation modelling to test whether an individual's trust and the information sources used to learn about land management positively influenced perceived inclusivity. We conceptualized trust in terms of four dimensions that reflected an individual's disposition to trust, trust in the federal government, trust in shared values and trust that agencies adhere to a moral code. We found that survey respondents across the U.S. state of Alaska had a limited disposition to trust others, did not trust federal land management agencies, did not believe agencies shared their values pertaining to protected area management and did not believe that agencies adhered to a moral code. Beliefs about the morality of agencies were the primary driver of perceived inclusivity in land management decisions, indicating that agencies should focus on solving problems through deliberation and discussion about moral principles rather than by force. Information acquired from professional, community-based or environmental advocacy exchanges also positively influenced perceived levels of involvement among stakeholders in resource management decisions. These results provide a roadmap for how land management agencies can improve public relations and work towards a model of inclusive conservation around protected areas. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | People and Nature |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 758-772 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISSN | 2575-8314 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.06.2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:
Funding for this research was provided by a Cooperative Agreement with the National Park Service (P18AC00175) a project called ENVISION funded through the 2017–2018 Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivScen ERA‐Net COFUND programme, and with the support of the following national funders: Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS), Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), US National Science Foundation (grant number 1854767), and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain. We also thank for the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and the Center of Advanced Study, as well as the University of Illinois Campus Research Board (RB19119). We are grateful for support throughout our research process provided by William Stewart, Christopher Raymond, Dana Johnson, Rose Keller, Evan Salcido, Eric Johnson, Dave Schirokauer and Ruth Colianni.
Funding Information:
Funding for this research was provided by a Cooperative Agreement with the National Park Service (P18AC00175) a project called ENVISION funded through the 2017–2018 Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivScen ERA-Net COFUND programme, and with the support of the following national funders: Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS), Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), US National Science Foundation (grant number 1854767), and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain. We also thank for the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and the Center of Advanced Study, as well as the University of Illinois Campus Research Board (RB19119). We are grateful for support throughout our research process provided by William Stewart, Christopher Raymond, Dana Johnson, Rose Keller, Evan Salcido, Eric Johnson, Dave Schirokauer and Ruth Colianni.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.
- Alaska, inclusive conservation, protected areas, public lands, social learning, social science, trust
- Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics
Research areas
- SDG 15 - Life on Land
Sustainable Development Goals
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics