Evaluating public interest in protected areas using Wikipedia page views

Abstract

Abstract Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of global conservation action and the most effective strategy for conserving the Earth’s biodiversity. Nevertheless, there is evidence that PAs are increasingly viewed by politicians and policy-makers as opportunity costs that constrain economic development. In the absence of societal resistance (‘push-back’) in the form of campaigns and/or lobbying, such attitudes leave many PAs vulnerable to downgrading, downsizing or degazettement (PADDD). The potential to mobilize public support for any given PA is difficult to directly measure, but is likely to be strongly correlated with contemporary levels of public interest and awareness. Here, we use Wikipedia page views (PVs) as a novel digital metric of public interest in PAs and demonstrate its utility through an analysis of Brazilian PAs. Because Brazil accounts for the vast majority of the World’s Portuguese speakers, we were able to generate separate metrics for national (PVs of Portuguese editions) and international (PVs of English editions) interest. We found that both national and international public interest is highest for larger, older PAs, especially National Parks. These results possibly reflect a historical bias towards designating the most iconic areas in the country first, with less scenic and more contested areas designated more recently. We also found that many PAs do not have a Wikipedia page, and many of those that do are rarely viewed by the public. The apparent low level of interest in these parks leaves them particularly vulnerable to development threats and, in our opinion, needs to be urgently addressed.