Using commitment to improve environmental quality

The making of commitments is often used as an intervention aimed at increasing pro-environmental behavior. Research shows that when people commit to changing their environmental behaviors, they tend to adhere to their commitments. In this dissertation it is investigated whether commitment making is effective in improving agricultural nature conservation and with that, environmental quality of farm lands. Furthermore, a conceptual review is offered, as well as an experimental investigation of the conditions under which people are willing to make such commitments. Results show that commitment making combined with tailored information is indeed effective in improving farmers’ nature conservation. Several explanations of the effect of commitment making on behavior are offered. Also, it is shown that that the willingness to invest in commitment making is contingent on the interplay of dispositional trust and situational expectations. Taken together, this dissertation aims to provide the reader with a perspective on the entire process of commitment making: under which conditions people engage in it, if it is successful in altering behavior, and how it is successful.LEI Universiteit LeidenSocial decision makin

CAMPFIRE and human-wildlife conflicts in local communities bordering northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe

Human-wildlife conflicts are a global problem, and are occurring in many countries where human and wildlife requirements overlap. Conflicts are particularly common near protected areas where societal unrest is large. To ease conflict, integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) have been implemented. The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) is an example of an ICDP. We hypothesized that (i) a higher perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE would be associated with a decline in human-wildlife conflicts, and (ii) local communities with higher perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE programs would have more favorable attitudes towards problematic wild animals. Four focus group discussions and interviews with 236 respondents were conducted in four local communities adjacent to northern Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe from December 2010 to August 2011. Moreover, we included data on recorded incidences of human-wildlife conflicts and CAMPFIRE financial returns to study communities between 2000 and 2010. Our results indicate that local communities showed considerable differences in how CAMPFIRE effectiveness was perceived. Local communities with higher ratings of CAMPFIRE effectiveness generally perceived a decline in human-wildlife conflicts, although some people had experienced problems with wild animals. Attitudes towards main problematic wild animals varied across the study communities and were partly associated with perceived CAMPFIRE effectiveness. Our findings partly support both of our study hypotheses. Contextual factors across the four local communities seemed to influence the perceived effectiveness of CAMPFIRE programs and attitudes towards problematic wildlife species. We recommend that decisions and actions regarding the control of problem animals be devolved to the community level in order to help reduce human-wildlife conflicts in community-based natural resources management programs

Using commitment to improve environmental quality

The making of commitments is often used as an intervention aimed at increasing pro-environmental behavior. Research shows that when people commit to changing their environmental behaviors, they tend to adhere to their commitments. In this dissertation it is investigated whether commitment making is effective in improving agricultural nature conservation and with that, environmental quality of farm lands. Furthermore, a conceptual review is offered, as well as an experimental investigation of the conditions under which people are willing to make such commitments. Results show that commitment making combined with tailored information is indeed effective in improving farmers’ nature conservation. Several explanations of the effect of commitment making on behavior are offered. Also, it is shown that that the willingness to invest in commitment making is contingent on the interplay of dispositional trust and situational expectations. Taken together, this dissertation aims to provide the reader with a perspective on the entire process of commitment making: under which conditions people engage in it, if it is successful in altering behavior, and how it is successful.</p

What's in it for Me? Motivational Differences between Farmer's Subsidised and Non-Subsidised Conservation Practices

Through nature conservation practices, farmers can strongly enhance nature quality and biodiversity in rural areas. In this paper, the social psychological underpinnings of farmers' nature conservation practices are investigated using the Theory of Planned Behavior, to which the concepts of self-identity and personal norms were added. A distinction is made between nature conservation practices done on a non-subsidised basis and nature conservation practices for which farmers receive some form of remuneration from the Dutch government. Eighty-five arable farmers participated in our survey. Results show that our model explains more variance in the intention to perform non-subsidised than subsidised nature conservation practices. Also, the concepts of self-identity and personal norms appear to be related to the intention to perform non-subsidised, not subsidised conservation