Public attitudes to the management of invasive non-native species in Scotland

By A. Bremner, Kirsty J. Park. 2007

369 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Invasive non-native species are one of the main threats to biodiversity. Consequently there is a need to control or eradicate those species that are causing problems in order to mitigate their impact. Such management programmes can be controversial and in some cases have been delayed or halted because of opposition from pressure groups. Public support can be critical to the success of such projects, and understanding the underlying attitudes of the public can help inform outreach education activities. To assess attitudes towards invasive species management and investigate socio-demographic factors influencing such attitudes, a questionnaire survey of 600 randomly selected members of the public in Scotland was conducted, and a total of 248 completed questionnaires returned. The level of support for control and eradication programmes was, in general, high and was higher amongst men, older people, and people who had previously heard of control and eradication projects. The species to be managed influenced levels of support, and projects to control birds were the least supported. Respondents with prior knowledge of control and eradication programmes and members of conservation organisations, in general, showed higher levels of support, indicating the important role that awareness and education has in terms of increasing public support for invasive non-native species management projects.

Subfields: Ecological Modeling, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2dd01745e6f43dc1a23473e04015f131a9c572a6

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecological Modeling

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

In Social Psychology

G. Vimercati

Citations in the corpus

Herbivory on freshwater and marine macrophytes: A review and perspective (2016, background): “…as waterfowl, turtles, and Sirenians are often considered charismatic, and attempts to manage their numbers, behaviour or distributions are likely to attract more opposition from conservation and welfare groups than the management of invertebrate herbivores (Bremner and Park, 2007; Small, 2012).”
Does public awareness increase support for invasive species management? Promising evidence across taxa and landscape types (2017, background): “Helping people to understand opportunities linked to invasive species management can reduce or even avoid conflicts around the management itself (Bremner and Park 2007).”
Native invaders – challenges for science, management, policy, and society (2012, background): “…“attractive” non-native invasive species, such as gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in Europe, have encountered the greatest public opposition (eg Bremner and Park 2007), whereas non-native species with less appeal, such as the cane toad (Rhinella marina, formerly Bufo marinus) in Australia,…”