Understanding conflicting views in conservation: An analysis of England

Dempsey, Benedict

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105362

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Such species need to be prioritised for conservation action at both landscape and individual site scales. This accords with the "management of changing nature" and "innovation in nature" conservation perspectives of Dempsey (2021) and concurrent movement away from paradigms that prioritise species over process, while also realising that some single-species initiatives remain valuable.…”

Section: Looking Forward: Predictions Recommendations and Caveatsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Vegetation community changes in European woodlands amid a changing climate: a palaeoecological modelling perspective

Webb

Goodenough

2021

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

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Climate has an important role in shaping the composition and structure of woodlands. There is considerable uncertainty regarding how woodlands will respond to climate change over the next hundred years. To better understand likely responses to contemporary climate change, this paper analyses taxonomic richness, evenness and community similarity in palaeoecological data from 31 European woodlands during an abrupt cooling and warming event c. 8,200 years ago. Repeated measures ANOVAs demonstrated there was no significant overall difference in richness or community evenness over time. A single significant pairwise contrast was found (richness decreased as climate warmed) but was short-lived, indicating that high-level effects were temporary. However, analysis of species turnover measured using community similarity revealed substantial changes (only 24% of species remained at some sites after climatic change), indicating that the actual species within that community had altered. General(ised) Linear Models showed variation in the direction and magnitude of community change was not related to the broadscale biogeographical variables of latitude, longitude or altitude. Our research has several important implications for practitioners involved in community ecology research and woodland management. Although site-level richness is largely unaffected, we caution that there will be considerable species turnover in woodlands as the climate warms. As species turnover at individual sites will have a negligible effect if driven by localised random processes, we recommend practitioners to consider long-term gamma diversity wherever possible. This shifts focus towards landscape-scale approaches that span generations rather than the typical 3-5-year span of funding, management plans and political cycles.

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Section: Looking Forward: Predictions Recommendations and Caveatsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Vegetation community changes in European woodlands amid a changing climate: a palaeoecological modelling perspective

Webb

Goodenough

2021

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

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“…Q‐methodology is a form of pattern analysis that combines quantitative and qualitative elements and was developed as a means of characterising human subjectivity (Stephenson, 1935; Zabala et al, 2018). It is increasingly used in conservation science (Bavin et al, 2020; Crowley et al, 2020; Dempsey, 2021; Newth et al, 2019; Webler et al, 2009). Q method employs a factor analysis of individual responses to explore patterns of commonality in perspectives across a topic, rather than generalising from a sample to a larger population.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholder perspectives on the prospect of lynx Lynx lynx reintroduction in Scotland

et al. 2023

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Conservation translocations are complex and challenging, but are frequently employed to tackle biodiversity decline. Large predator translocations can be particularly emotive and contentious, in part because they present actual or perceived risks to the safety and livelihoods of people. Understanding the social feasibility of conservation translocations is imperative, and provides opportunities to identify and address these risks. In Britain, the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx is the most frequently raised prospect for large carnivore reintroduction. We used Q‐Methodology to explore stakeholder perspectives on the prospect of lynx reintroduction to Scotland. We identified five perspectives: Lynx for Change was supportive of lynx reintroduction, feeling that lynx could facilitate ecosystem restoration. Lynx for Economy was also supportive, anticipating economic benefits to local communities. No to Lynx was strongly opposed, perceiving that humans were fulfilling the roles of absent large carnivores. Scotland is not Ready supported the conversation but perceived prohibitive socio‐ecological barriers. We are not Convinced was not satisfied that an adequate case for biodiversity gain had been made, but was open to further exploration of the potential. There were important areas of divergence among the perspectives over the potential impacts on sheep farming and the degree to which environments should be managed by people or encouraged to self‐regulate. There was a consensus on a lack of trust between stakeholder groups, which was primarily rooted in participants' experiences of previous wildlife reintroductions and the contemporary management of recovering predators. However, there was also consensus that, should lynx reintroduction continue to be explored, a participatory, cross‐sectoral approach could address these trust issues, help manage existing and emergent conflicts, and build knowledge collaboratively. We provide a foundation for future dialogue between stakeholders over the prospective reintroduction of the lynx to Scotland and recommend a stakeholder‐focused participatory process as the next step. Our findings have wider relevance for wildlife reintroductions, species recovery and conservation conflicts elsewhere. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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“…Recent legislation in the UK (Agriculture Act 2020 and Environment Act 2021) and the latest CAP reforms in Europe [26] are asking farmers, agricultural land managers, and regional bodies to significantly change how they manage their land. They insist that practices ensuring food production are balanced with practices that promote environmental sustainability, contribute to addressing the climate crisis, safeguard natural and cultural heritage, and enhance rural communities [27][28][29][30]. This reflects a growing broader societal concern in the UK and EU with these issues and a rebalancing of what is considered valuable.…”

Section: Changing Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Practicing Critical Zone Observation in Agricultural Landscapes: Communities, Technology, Environment and Archaeology

Opitz

Smedt

Mayoral-Herrera

et al. 2023

Land

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The aims of agricultural land management change continuously, reflecting shifts in wider societal priorities. Currently, these include addressing the climate crisis, promoting environmental sustainability, and supporting the livelihoods of rural communities while ensuring food security. Working toward these aims requires information on the character of agricultural land and how dynamic processes influence it. Remote and near-surface sensing data are important sources of information on the characteristics of soils, plants, water, topography, and related processes. Sensing data are collected, analysed, and used in decision-making by specialists in multiple domains connected to land management. While progress has been made to connect the use of sensing data across agricultural and environmental applications under the umbrella of integrated sustainable land management, archaeological and heritage uses of these data remain largely disconnected. This creates barriers to accounting for the impacts of past human activities on contemporary agricultural landscapes through the alteration of soils, topography, and plant communities. In parallel, it hinders the creation of knowledge about the archaeological features which form an essential part of the heritage of agricultural landscapes. The ipaast-czo project explores the potential of a coordinated approach across all these domains, which would reduce these barriers and provide benefits by better integrating information generated using sensing. To do so, both conceptual and practical barriers to developing shared practices and how these might be overcome were considered. In this study, a conceptual framework designed to create a shared understanding of how agricultural landscapes work and enable collaboration around their management was proposed. This framework treats present-day rural agricultural landscapes as Critical Zones: complex entities shaped by long-term human–environment interactions including contemporary farming. Practitioners in precision agriculture and archaeological remote and near-surface sensing, as well as users of these data, were engaged using workshops and interviews. The relationships between practitioners’ objectives, data requirements for their applications, and their perceptions of the benefits and disadvantages of changing working practices were interrogated. The conceptual framework and assessment of practical benefits and challenges emerging from this work provide a foundation for leveraging shared sensing data and methods for long-term integrated sustainable land management.

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Understanding conflicting views in conservation: An analysis of England

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

Vegetation community changes in European woodlands amid a changing climate: a palaeoecological modelling perspective

Vegetation community changes in European woodlands amid a changing climate: a palaeoecological modelling perspective

Stakeholder perspectives on the prospect of lynx Lynx lynx reintroduction in Scotland

Practicing Critical Zone Observation in Agricultural Landscapes: Communities, Technology, Environment and Archaeology

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