Dr Nikoleta Jones and Dr James McGinlay Seminar
Exploring Public Acceptance of Nature Protected Areas in Europe
Dr Nikoleta Jones
Associate Professor, Institute for Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick.
Dr James McGinlay
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick.
Talk Abstract
By 2030 we expect 30% of land and 30% of water in Europe to be protected under a mosaic of designations, such as National Parks and nature reserves. Protected Areas (PAs) are very complex socio-ecological systems where strict biodiversity targets are set alongside socio-economic priorities.
However, not all PAs are supported by the public, with conflicts often emerging between stakeholders, for example around increased tourism and traffic. Understanding and planning for new protected areas in a way that considers their social impact on resident populations should result in more successful, harmonious PAs.
During this seminar, we present evidence from the European Research Council project FIDELIOLink opens in a new window, exploring the level of support for 10 European PAs using data from surveys involving 3000 local residents. We will discuss the current level of support for these PAs and how our understanding of perceived social impacts can assist in predicting public acceptance of new protected areas. We will also discuss how levels of support and social impacts differ when taking into consideration temporal and spatial dimensions. These findings are useful both for researchers and practitioners as they can significantly assist in developing predictive behavioural models for PAs which can be incorporated in PA planning processes.
Speaker Bios
Dr Nikoleta Jones is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick. Her expertise lies within the field of environmental policy and governance with a specific focus on protected areas and climate change. She uses mixed methods with a particular interest in behavioural predictive models incorporating spatial and temporal dimensions. She is currently leading the project FIDELIO funded by the European Research Council (www.warwick.ac.uk/fidelio) exploring social impacts and public support for European Protected Areas.
Dr James McGinlay is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick. Dr McGinlay is an environmental researcher with a broad-based interest in the environment and sustainability, and a particular interest in biodiversity and nature conservation, assessment and management, and in people's relationship with nature. He is experienced in interdisciplinary approaches to complex environmental problems drawing on knowledge from the natural and social sciences, and in mixed-method and case-study strategies focusing particularly on qualitative research methods. Past research has included work on the policy and practice of managing socio-ecological systems, and on cultural ecosystem services.
If you have any queries about the event, please contact habitability at warwick dot ac dot uk