Perception-Based Study on the Value of Nature to People and Land Sparing for Nature in Brazil and Poland

Abstract

Understanding perception about nature is paramount to understanding human behavior and decision making on the environment. We performed a survey-based study in Brazil and Poland to better understand the perception of land sparing for nature and the perceived value of nature. The countries were selected by intentional sampling and given their importance for local and global biodiversity conservation, and complex socio-ecological context of conservation versus agroforestry business. We performed an online questionnaire (N = 1030) in Brazil and face-to-face interviews in Poland (N = 322). We found that Brazilian respondents demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes than Polish survey participants. Regarding the question: “How much nature that is left should be spared?”, nearly 51% of Brazilians answered “everything”, compared with 13% of Polish respondents. Just under half of the respondents from Poland (45.6%) indicated that half of the nature that is left should be spared. Brazilian respondents also perceived the intrinsic value of nature to a greater extent compared with Polish respondents; in total, 76% of Brazilians respondents entirely agreed that “Nature, its plants and animals have a value on their own, independent of their usefulness for us” versus 25% of Polish respondents. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the leverage points driving pro-environmental attitudes in both countries.

Systematic review of soil ecosystem services in tropical regions

“…These mechanisms can encourage ecosystems conservation and restoration, initiatives that are crucial in the countries of the tropical region. More knowledge regarding SES would help these countries overcome the severe degradation of the natural capital of soil they suffer and improve their socio-economic growth [ 75 , 76 ].…”

Stepping on invisible land: on the importance of communicating the value of soils

“…Given the increasing environmental impacts generated by soil degradation, it is necessary to raise awareness in society about the importance of conserving global soils [13]: the soil must be considered an integral part of the humannature relationship and as indispensable to the natural processes that allow life on Earth. However, soil degradation is perceived as least important of current environmental problems [18], and the concept of ecosystem services related to soil quality has received less attention than biodiversity [27]. There are also gaps in the implementation of soil science in restoration studies [25,28].…”

“…Given the vital role of soil in global resource management and the decline in the provision of soil ecosystem services, it is paramount to develop mechanisms for communicating scientific knowledge about the value of soils to a wider audience [7,18]. However, with the abundancy of fake news available online, there is a gap between scientists' work and accessibility to potential readers [19].…”

Scientific criticism of “Unlawful prosecution regarding forest ecosystem destruction

“…https://doi.org/10.22197/rbdpp.v8i2.745 | fInal consIderatIons Thus, reading the article "Unlawful prosecution regarding forest ecosystem destruction" allowed noticing differences between Brazil and Poland regarding ecosystems and a pro-environmental attitude and nature value perceptions by their populations 13 , in addition to procedural institutes related to expertise quite restrictive in the European country. However, the environmental criminal prosecution issues are quite similar.…”