Effects of childhood experience with nature on tolerance of urban residents toward hornets and wild boars in Japan

Abstract

Urban biodiversity conservation often aims to promote the quality of life for urban residents by providing ecosystem services as well as habitats for diverse wildlife. However, biodiversity inevitably brings some disadvantages, including problems and nuisances caused by wildlife. Although some studies have reported that enhancement of nature interaction among urban children promotes their affective attitude toward of favorable animals, its effect on tolerance toward problem-causing wildlife is unknown. In this study, we assessed the tolerance of 1,030 urban residents in Japan toward hornets and wild boar, and analyzed the effects of childhood experience with nature on tolerance using a structural equation model. The model used sociodemographic factors and childhood nature experience as explanatory variables, affective attitude toward these animals as a mediator, and tolerance as a response variable. The public tolerance toward hornets and boars was low; over 60% of the respondents would request the removal of hornets and wild boar from nearby green spaces by government services, even when the animals had not caused any damage. Tolerance was lower in females and elderly respondents. Childhood experience with nature had a greater influence on tolerance than did sociodemographic factors in the scenario where animals have not caused any problems; however, its effect was only indirect via promoting positive affective attitude toward wildlife when the animals have caused problems. Our results suggest that increasing people’s direct experience with nature is important to raise public tolerance, but its effect is limited to cases where wildlife does not cause any problems. To obtain wider support for conservation in urban areas, conservationists, working together with municipal officials, educators and the media, should provide relevant information on the ecological functions performed by problem-causing wildlife and strategies for avoiding the problems that wildlife can cause.

Don’t Know Much about Bumblebees?—A Study about Secondary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude Shows Educational Demand

“…Our results of student attitude towards bumblebees do not correspond with findings of others on attitude towards other insects. In previous studies, insects have been associated with fear and dislike [ 33 , 37 , 47 , 48 ] and bees, especially, have been associated with fear [ 27 , 28 ]. However, bumblebees might be an exception, which makes them optimal flagship species for environmental education and conservation [ 49 , 50 ].…”

“…The final category of attitude is conation, which is verbalized through expressions of behavioral inclinations and intentions [ 46 ] (p. 5). Insects are often associated with fear and disgust [ 33 , 37 , 47 , 48 ], which can impede the success of environmental education [ 49 ]. Especially honeybees are associated with danger by students.…”

Nature experience promotes preference for and willingness to coexist with wild animals among urban and suburban residents in Malaysia

“…Besides Experience, we examined several sociodemographic factors to control the possible confounding effects on attitudes and to evaluate the relative importance of Experience and sociodemographic factors. We also assumed a path from preference to coexistence because preference is often an important factor that affects attitudes toward wild animals, such as tolerance (Hosaka et al 2017) and willingness for conservation (Zhang et al 2014;. With these objectives, we developed a mediation model and examined this model using questionnaire data from 357 Malaysian adult residents (urban and suburban) in and around Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.…”

Nature-Related Experience during Childhood in Urban and Rural Areas: The Case of Peninsular Malaysians

“…Other popular traditional games such as congkak or batu seremban also involve rubber seeds or small stones [33]. Observing animals and playing with seeds or other plant materials are popular among children in other countries, such as the United States [14,41], Norway [42,43], and Japan [44], although specific interactions with wild animals and plants differ greatly among countries [45,46]. Therefore, the common waterand tropical fruit-based activities experienced by Malaysian children can be regarded as significantly different from Western and developed countries.…”