Public attitudes toward biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management in Europe

View/ Open
Issue date
2020-05-13Author
Fischer, Leonie K.
Neuenkamp, Lena
Lampinen, Jussi
Tuomi, Maria
Bucharova, Anna
Cancellieri, Laura
Casado-Arzuaga, Izaskun
Čeplová, Natálie
Cerveró, Lluïsa
Deák, Balázs
Eriksson, Ove
Fellowes, Mark D.E.
Fernández de Manuel, Beatriz
Filibeck, Goffredo
González-Guzmán, Adrián
Hinojosa, M. Belen
Kowarik, Ingo
Miguel, Ana
Rodríguez-García, Encarna
Schröder, Roland
Sperandii, Marta Gaia
Unterweger, Philipp
Valkó, Orsolya
Vázquez, Víctor
Klaus, Valentin H.
Suggested citation
Fischer, Leonie K.;
Neuenkamp, Lena;
Lampinen, Jussi;
Tuomi, Maria;
Alday, Josu G.;
Bucharova, Anna;
...
Klaus, Valentin H..
(2020)
.
Public attitudes toward biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management in Europe.
Conservation Letters, 2020, vol. 13, núm. 4, e12718.
https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12718.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Increasing urbanization worldwide calls for more sustainable urban development. Simultaneously, the global biodiversity crisis accentuates the need of fostering biodiversity within cities. Policies supporting urban nature conservation need to understand people's acceptance of biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. We surveyed more than 2,000 people in 19 European cities about their attitudes toward near‐natural urban grassland management in public greenspaces, and related their responses to nine sociocultural parameters. Results reveal that people across Europe can support urban biodiversity, yet within the frames of a generally tidy appearance of public greenery. Younger people and those using greenspaces for a greater variety of activities were more likely to favor biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. Additionally, people who were aware of the meaning of biodiversity and those stating responsibility for biodiversity conservation particularly supported biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. Our results point at explicit measures like environmental education to increase public acceptance of policies that facilitate nature conservation within cities.