Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge: Student natural history knowledge and the significance of birds

Gosler, Andrew; Tilling, Stephen M.

doi:10.1002/pan3.10265

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…First, such assessments tend to be rather removed from the process of identifying living organisms under field conditions, often for example using static images or drawings. Second, they have tended to be at the species level, rather than higher taxonomic or other groupings, although people's knowledge is often poorer at the species level (Gosler & Tilling, 2022; Le et al., 2018). Third, and making them more relevant to personalized ecologies, they have tended to focus on species that are native to the broad area or country in which the people being assessed reside (rather than concerning species drawn from a global pool).…”

Section: Internal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing personalized ecologies

Gaston

2024

Journal of Zoology

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People have unique sets of direct sensory interactions with wild species, which change through their days, weeks, seasons, and lifetimes. Despite having important influences on their health and well‐being and their attitudes towards nature, these personalized ecologies remain surprisingly little studied and are poorly understood. However, much can be inferred about personalized ecologies by considering them from first principles (largely macroecological), alongside insights from research into the design and effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring programmes, knowledge of how animals respond to people, and studies of human biology and demography. Here I first review how three major sets of drivers, opportunity, capability and motivation, shape people's personalized ecologies. Second, I then explore the implications of these mechanisms for how more passively and more actively practical improvements can be made in people's personalized ecologies. Particularly in light of the declines in the richness of these ecologies that are being experienced in much of the world (the so‐called ‘extinction of experience’), and the significant consequences, marked improvement in many people's interactions and experiences with nature may be key to the future of biodiversity.

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Section: Internal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing personalized ecologies

Gaston

2024

Journal of Zoology

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“…Age and education are significant drivers of ethnobiological knowledge (Brandt et al 2013;Mathez-Stiefel et al 2012). This is especially the case in societies which are undergoing rapid economic and cultural change, such as the Altiplano, as these changes can lead to an erosion of ethnobiological knowledge (Gosler and Tilling 2022;Reyes-García et al 2005, 2007. Historically, the Altiplano has not only been one of the poorest in South America, but also one of the few areas where indigenous culture dominates Spanish culture (Klarén 2000;La Barre 1948).…”

Section: Choosing Potential Explanatory Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous–Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence in the Altiplano

Villar,

Thomsen,

Paca-Condori

et al. 2024

Journal of Ethnobiology

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Understanding the drivers of conflict and coexistence in human–wildlife relations are critical to conservation. This study sought to understand th varying attitudes of local indigenous people towards wildlife, focusing on the Titicaca Grebe ( Rollandia microptera), an endangered endemic species found in Lake Titicaca and surrounding waters in the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia. We used an ethnobiology approach to understand which demographic, sociocultural, and economic factors influenced (a) attitudes and local ecological knowledge (LEK) towards the grebe and (2) their effects on Indigenous–wildlife conflict or coexistence. We used a qualitative, semi-structured questionnaire to interview 221 individuals over six months in villages surrounding Lake Titicaca. Participants primarily consisted of locals from the Aymara, Quechan, and Uro Indigenous groups. We found that most individuals expressed apathy towards the grebe, with a significant minority being hostile towards it. Hostility was concentrated amongst fishers and was driven by economic concerns. Knowledge of the grebe was low in the general population, but higher amongst fishers. There was, however, widespread willingness to conserve the grebe amongst the general population, particularly when informed that the grebe is endemic to the Altiplano. This small environmental education intervention suggested increased positive attitudes and a willingness to conserve the grebe. Non-homogenous perspectives towards the grebe were held within and between indigenous groups, suggesting the need for future research into intra-indigenous group dynamics in indigenous–wildlife relations. Future conservation work on the Titicaca Grebe should focus on reducing grebe-fisher conflict, both real and perceived, and on educating people on the grebe's endemic status.

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Reconnecting children to nature: The efficacy of a wildlife intervention depends on local nature and socio‐economic context, but not on urbanisation

Jensen,

Alkan Olsson,

von Post

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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Children's interactions with nature are important mediators of health benefits and future relationships with nature and conservation. However, there are growing concerns that children are becoming disconnected from nature as societal changes make natural environments and their affordances less accessible. There is now a need to explore ways to reconnect children to nature. We evaluated bird feeding as an environmental education intervention on species knowledge, attitudes towards birds and well‐being of children (aged 10–11 years) in 14 urban and rural schools across three city regions. We used surveys to investigate the role of urbanisation and socio‐economic factors in children's relationships with nature and possible modulating effects on the intervention response. Local nature, close to the children's homes, was associated with better well‐being and modulated the effect of the intervention on species knowledge: children from areas with less local nature gained more from the project. Urbanisation per se had no direct impacts but did correlate with the types of affordances associated with nature by the children, suggesting differences in how urban and rural children utilise nature. We found that socio‐economic factors impacted pre‐existing species knowledge and attitudes towards nature. Higher education was associated with better species knowledge. Higher income correlated with children participating in more outdoor activities, which subsequently correlated with more positive attitudes towards birds. Species knowledge also correlated with positive attitudes. We found large differences in the intervention impact between schools, likely explained by a pivotal role of teachers facilitating nature interactions in school‐based projects. Our findings show that bird feeding has potential as an intervention to connect children with nature, but ecological and social contexts moderate its efficacy. Local greenspace and socio‐economics influenced children's relationships with nature in both urban and rural areas, indicating that local conditions rather than urbanisation levels govern connection to nature. Role models appeared crucial, suggesting that specialised environmental education organisations have significant potential to enhance nature connection through interventions, particularly in areas with low socio‐economic levels and sparse nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge: Student natural history knowledge and the significance of birds

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 9 publications

References 59 publications

Characterizing personalized ecologies

Characterizing personalized ecologies

Indigenous–Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence in the Altiplano

Reconnecting children to nature: The efficacy of a wildlife intervention depends on local nature and socio‐economic context, but not on urbanisation

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