IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i23p13270-d691921.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest

Author

Listed:
  • Max C. Leveridge

    (Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Miami University, 250 S. Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
    Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Portland, OR 97266, USA)

  • Amélie Y. Davis

    (Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Miami University, 250 S. Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
    Department of Geography, Miami University, 250 S. Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
    Department of Economics and Geosciences, United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Drive, Suite 6K-118, Colorado Springs, CO 80840, USA)

  • Sarah L. Dumyahn

    (Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, Miami University, 250 S. Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH 45056, USA)

Abstract

Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems, often playing a large role in the success of large carnivore conservation. We focus on interactions between humans and carnivores in the world’s largest, relatively intact temperate rainforest—The Great Bear Rainforest (GBR), British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focus on residents of Prince Rupert, a city within the GBR, and examine its residents’ ecological and relational attitudes towards the surrounding area of protected rainforest and the large carnivores present in the area. We aim to determine the strength of public attitudes and values of the environment and carnivores in the GBR, and to examine whether they differ between First Nations and non-First Nations residents of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews of Prince Rupert residents. At the start of the interview, respondents self-administered a survey consisting of statements from the Social Ecological Relational Value and the New Ecological Paradigm scales. We find no significant difference between First Nations and non-First Nations respondent attitudes. This is possibly due to three factors: (1) cultural influence from the local First Nations, (2) the fact that these carnivores are important for the local economy through tourism, and (3) a strong sense of place associated with the area and the carnivores that inhabit it regardless of positive or negative encounters with these animals. While we find positive attitudes towards carnivores and little evidence of human–wildlife conflict, feelings towards carnivores encountered in town or while hiking tend to be negative, especially when they involve wolves. In order to mitigate these effects in a way that protects these valuable creatures, respondents overwhelmingly clamored for a conservation officer to be assigned to Prince Rupert. We conclude that policy and management might alleviate human–carnivore conflicts in the area should our results be corroborated by studies with larger sample sizes.

Suggested Citation

  • Max C. Leveridge & Amélie Y. Davis & Sarah L. Dumyahn, 2021. "Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13270-:d:691921
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13270/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13270/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy & Andrew Gonzalez & David U. Hooper & Charles Perrings & Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani & Georgina M. Mace & David Tilman & David A. Wardle & Ann P. Kinzig & Gre, 2012. "Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 486(7401), pages 59-67, June.
    2. David Tilman, 2000. "Causes, consequences and ethics of biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 405(6783), pages 208-211, May.
    3. Stamatios Ntanos & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Michalis Skordoulis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2019. "An Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in a Greek Context," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Sarah C Klain & Paige Olmsted & Kai M A Chan & Terre Satterfield, 2017. "Relational values resonate broadly and differently than intrinsic or instrumental values, or the New Ecological Paradigm," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy & Andrew Gonzalez & David U. Hooper & Charles Perrings & Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani & Georgina M. Mace & David Tilman & David A.Wardle & Ann P. Kinzig & Gret, 2012. "Correction: Corrigendum: Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 489(7415), pages 326-326, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang Liu & Jing Zhao & Xi Zheng & Xiaoyang Ou & Yaru Zhang & Jiaying Li, 2023. "Evaluation of Biodiversity Maintenance Capacity in Forest Landscapes: A Case Study in Beijing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Kedi Liu & Ranran Wang & Inge Schrijver & Rutger Hoekstra, 2024. "Can we project well-being? Towards integral well-being projections in climate models and beyond," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Nina Tiel & Fabian Fopp & Philipp Brun & Johan Hoogen & Dirk Nikolaus Karger & Cecilia M. Casadei & Lisha Lyu & Devis Tuia & Niklaus E. Zimmermann & Thomas W. Crowther & Loïc Pellissier, 2024. "Regional uniqueness of tree species composition and response to forest loss and climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Yutong Zhang & Wei Zhou & Danxue Luo, 2023. "The Relationship Research between Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Growth: From Multi-Level Attempts to Key Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    5. Sueur, Cédric & Fourneret, Eric & Espinosa, Romain, 2023. "Animal capital: a new way to define human-animal bond in view of global changes," OSF Preprints svg7x, Center for Open Science.
    6. Yiwei Lian & Yang Bai & Zhongde Huang & Maroof Ali & Jie Wang & Haoran Chen, 2024. "Spatio-Temporal Changes and Habitats of Rare and Endangered Species in Yunnan Province Based on MaxEnt Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Gaeun Kim & Jiwon Kim & Youngjin Ko & Olebogeng Thelma G. Eyman & Sarwat Chowdhury & Julie Adiwal & Wookyun Lee & Yowhan Son, 2021. "How Do Nature-Based Solutions Improve Environmental and Socio-Economic Resilience to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? Reforestation and Afforestation Cases from the Republic of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Guangdong Li & Chuanglin Fang & James E. M. Watson & Siao Sun & Wei Qi & Zhenbo Wang & Jianguo Liu, 2024. "Mixed effectiveness of global protected areas in resisting habitat loss," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Sarah R. Weiskopf & Forest Isbell & Maria Isabel Arce-Plata & Moreno Di Marco & Mike Harfoot & Justin Johnson & Susannah B. Lerman & Brian W. Miller & Toni Lyn Morelli & Akira S. Mori & Ensheng Weng &, 2024. "Biodiversity loss reduces global terrestrial carbon storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Shuangshuang Liu & Qipeng Liao & Mingzhu Xiao & Dengyue Zhao & Chunbo Huang, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Variations of Habitat Quality and Its Response of Landscape Dynamic in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Jennifer M. H. Loch & Linda J. Walters & Melinda L. Donnelly & Geoffrey S. Cook, 2021. "Restored Coastal Habitat Can “Reel In” Juvenile Sportfish: Population and Community Responses in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-22, November.
    12. Jessica Chavez & Vincent Nijman & Desak Ketut Tristiana Sukmadewi & Made Dwi Sadnyana & Sophie Manson & Marco Campera, 2024. "Impact of Farm Management on Soil Fertility in Agroforestry Systems in Bali, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-15, September.
    13. Waleed Iqbal & Muhammad Zahir Afridi & Aftab Jamal & Adil Mihoub & Muhammad Farhan Saeed & Árpád Székely & Adil Zia & Muhammad Awais Khan & Alfredo Jarma-Orozco & Marcelo F. Pompelli, 2022. "Canola Seed Priming and Its Effect on Gas Exchange, Chlorophyll Photobleaching, and Enzymatic Activities in Response to Salt Stress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-22, July.
    14. Guangzi Li & Jun Cai, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Differentiation of Mountain Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Synergies: A Case Study of Jieshi Mountain, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.
    15. Ronald S. Zalesny & Göran Berndes & Ioannis Dimitriou & Uwe Fritsche & Constance Miller & Mark Eisenbies & Solomon Ghezehei & Dennis Hazel & William L. Headlee & Blas Mola‐Yudego & M. Cristina Negri &, 2019. "Positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(5), September.
    16. Qiujin Chen & Yuqi Zhang & Yin Zhang & Mingliang Kong, 2022. "Examining Social Equity in the Co-Management of Terrestrial Protected Areas: Perceived Fairness of Local Communities in Giant Panda National Park, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, September.
    17. Gabriela Woźniak & Monika Malicka & Jacek Kasztowski & Łukasz Radosz & Joanna Czarnecka & Jaco Vangronsveld & Dariusz Prostański, 2022. "How Important Are the Relations between Vegetation Diversity and Bacterial Functional Diversity for the Functioning of Novel Ecosystems?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Chun-Wei Chang & Takeshi Miki & Hao Ye & Sami Souissi & Rita Adrian & Orlane Anneville & Helen Agasild & Syuhei Ban & Yaron Be’eri-Shlevin & Yin-Ru Chiang & Heidrun Feuchtmayr & Gideon Gal & Satoshi I, 2022. "Causal networks of phytoplankton diversity and biomass are modulated by environmental context," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    19. Huixin Wang & Jing Xie & Shixian Luo & Duy Thong Ta & Qian Wang & Jiao Zhang & Daer Su & Katsunori Furuya, 2023. "Exploring the Interplay between Landscape Planning and Human Well-Being: A Scientometric Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-24, June.
    20. Tolulope Ayodeji Olatoye & Ahmed Mukalazi Kalumba & Sonwabo Perez Mazinyo & Akinwunmi Sinday Odeyemi, 2023. "Impact of Urban Expansion on Coastal Vegetation Conservation in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa," International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD), IGI Global, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13270-:d:691921. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.