Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Who cares about forests and why?

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Who cares about forests and why?: individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published

Standard

Who cares about forests and why? individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia. / Torres, Patricia Carignano; Morsello, Carla; Parry, Luke Thomas Wyn et al.
In: PLoS ONE, Vol. 11, No. 12, e0167691, 12.12.2016.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

APA

Vancouver

Torres PC, Morsello C, Parry LTW, Pardini R. Who cares about forests and why? individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia. PLoS ONE. 2016 Dec 12;11(12):e0167691. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167691

Author

Torres, Patricia Carignano ; Morsello, Carla ; Parry, Luke Thomas Wyn et al. / Who cares about forests and why? individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia. In: PLoS ONE. 2016 ; Vol. 11, No. 12.

Bibtex

@article{fc6a3e4ced854bc39a2d6a61de19e81f,
title = "Who cares about forests and why?: individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia",
abstract = "Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests, and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bushmeat could offer a starting point.",
author = "Torres, {Patricia Carignano} and Carla Morsello and Parry, {Luke Thomas Wyn} and Renata Pardini",
year = "2016",
month = dec,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0167691",
language = "English",
volume = "11",
journal = "PLoS ONE",
issn = "1932-6203",
publisher = "Public Library of Science",
number = "12",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Who cares about forests and why?

T2 - individual values attributed to forests in a post-frontier region in Amazonia

AU - Torres, Patricia Carignano

AU - Morsello, Carla

AU - Parry, Luke Thomas Wyn

AU - Pardini, Renata

PY - 2016/12/12

Y1 - 2016/12/12

N2 - Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests, and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bushmeat could offer a starting point.

AB - Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests, and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bushmeat could offer a starting point.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0167691

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0167691

M3 - Journal article

VL - 11

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 12

M1 - e0167691

ER -