Perceived inclusivity and trust in protected area management decisions among stakeholders in Alaska

Abstract

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.

Leverage points and levers of inclusive conservation in protected areas

“…We understand inclusive conservation as a trans-disciplinary approach to acknowledging the diversity of stakeholder visions and related management and conservation tensions to effectively manage protected areas, building on current discussions about social inclusion in conservation (Saberwal 1996, Berkes 2007, Mace 2014, Tallis and Lubchenco 2014, Matulis and Moyer 2017, Berkes 2021, Goodson et al 2022, Raymond et al 2022. We define inclusive conservation dimensions as all factors, outcomes, or processes enabling the inclusion of diverse values and visions The ordinal numbers refer to the number of solutions per country, which is also indicated by a gradient of intensity of green color.…”

“…for nature to enhance conservation while providing multiple benefits for people and nature. Some examples of inclusive conservation dimensions are gender mainstreaming (Svarstad et al 2006, Schmitt 2014, integration and weaving of both Indigenous-local and scientific knowledge systems (Medeiros et al 2018, Cebrián-Piqueras et al 2020, processes of building trust and feelings of inclusion (Goodson et al 2022), or empowerment of local communities and minority groups (Scheyvens 1999, Constantino et al 2012. Based on these examples, we selected dimensions of inclusive conservation from our array of PANORAMA solutions (Table A3).…”

“…Our results suggest that inclusive perspectives should establish dialogue, trust, and collaboration between communities, management authorities, and government institutions within protected areas experiencing ongoing conflicts and the threats of land use transformation. These are shown to be essential leverage points to navigate and revert negative trends (Goodson et al 2022) and have been revealed as essential aspects of successful comanagement for preventing the escalation of conflicts and attaining sustainable conflict management in protected areas (Soliku and Schraml 2020)…”