Malgorzata Blicharska

Incorporating Social and Cultural Significance of Large Old Trees in Conservation Policy

In addition to providing key ecological functions, large old trees are a part of a social realm and as such provide numerous social-cultural benefits to people. However, their social and cultural values are often neglected when designing conservation policies and management guidelines. We believe that awareness of large old trees as a part of human identity and cultural heritage is essential when addressing the issue of their decline worldwide. Large old trees provide humans with aesthetic, symbolic, religious, and historic values, as well as concrete tangible benefits, such as leaves, branches, or nuts. In many cultures particularly large trees are treated with reverence. Also, contemporary popular culture utilizes the image of trees as sentient beings and builds on the ancient myths that attribute great powers to large trees. Although the social and cultural role of large old trees is usually not taken into account in conservation, accounting for human-related values of these trees is an important part of conservation policy because it may strengthen conservation by highlighting the potential synergies in protecting ecological and social values.

Conservation at risk: conflict analysis in the Białowieża Forest, a European biodiversity hotspot

The Białowieża Forest is one of the last large remnants of near-natural lowland temperate forest in Europe. For centuries it has had a favourable conservation status by virtue of being a royal game reserve. However, the governance and management changes introduced during the twentieth century have affected the forests ecological status. For two decades, scientists alongside environmentalists have been debating fiercely with foresters and local residents about effective biodiversity conservation of the Białowieża Forest. Based on a literature review and semi-structured interviews with the main stakeholders in this debate, we analysed the mechanisms underlying the on-going discord, and the assumptions behind the claims of opponents. Important findings were that neither of the opposing groups favoured management options that were optimal for the maintenance of the Białowieża Forest biodiversity values in the long term. Second, persistent tension was fostered through a mutual lack of trust, incompatible appreciation of factual data, local vested interests and by overall economic insecurity of local stakeholders. We discuss the need for restoration-oriented management that would both secure remnants of this irreplaceable ecosystem and restore more disturbed areas of the entire forest massif. There seems to be a need for a shift toward an approach combining bottom-up social processes focused on addressing concrete needs of local stakeholders with strong communication of the clearly identified conservation values of the Białowieża Forest. Finally, incentives for biodiversity conservation must be incorporated into pertinent legislation and funding, as only then would the entire scheme for management and governance stand a chance of success.

Context dependency and stakeholder involvement in EIA: the decisive role of practitioners

The outcomes of frameworks and practices for stakeholder involvement in environmental impact assessment (EIA) for road planning, under the umbrella of a common EU legal framework, are investigated here in specific national contexts. Data for the two empirical cases examined – Poland and Sweden – are related to the recent ongoing discussion on context dependency for Environmental Assessments (EA). The analysis, informed by practitioner interviews and documentary review, comprises a historical review of the evolution of EIA and stakeholder involvement, and examines more closely the legal frameworks, formal and informal arenas for stakeholder involvement, and norms of stakeholder involvement held by professionals involved in the planning process in the two countries. The results challenge existing assumptions about the relative depth of institutionalisation of stakeholder involvement and environmental concern in a Scandinavian and Central-Eastern European context, and highlight the decisive role of practitioners in the application of EA frameworks in planning practice.

Integrating Ecological, Social and Cultural Dimensions in the Implementation of the Landscape Convention

Abstract Implementation of the European Landscape Convention requires new tools that link ecological, social and cultural dimensions in practical planning. Here, we propose connectivity as a conceptual tool to include different dimensions into landscape and spatial planning. We present a short review of the connectivity concept in relation to ecological, social and cultural dimensions and illustrate it by examples from a real landscape planning case.

Perceived landscape values and public participation in a road planning process – a case study in Sweden

The European Landscape Convention indicates that assessment of different dimensions that exist in landscapes should be taken into account in planning. In this study, we first investigated ecological, cultural and social values as perceived by the local people in a highway-planning process in Sweden. Next, we explored which factors influenced the local peoples participation in the road-planning process. We used questionnaires, planning documents and the Theory of Planned Behavior to investigate the relations between different factors and local peoples participation in the planning process. The results showed that people presumed the ecological values in the landscape to be adversely affected by the new road, while the social values would remain the same. Landowners had heard of the participatory-process, but few participated. Those who lived within 300 m of the road were more active in the planning process than people living further away. The findings suggest that people living within a few hundred metres of the road should be treated as key stakeholders in the planning process. The involvement of other stakeholders, and when in the public participation process stakeholders should be involved, is also discussed.

Biodiversity priority areas and religions—a global analysis of spatial overlap

Numerous solutions have been proposed to slow the accelerating loss of biodiversity. Thinking about biodiversity conservation has not, however, been incorporated into the everyday activities of most individuals and nations. Conservation scientists need to refocus on strategies that reshape ethical attitudes to nature and encourage pro-environmental thinking and lifestyles. Religions are central to basic beliefs and ethics that influence peoples behaviour and should be considered more seriously in biodiversity discourse. Using data from the World Religion Database we conducted an analysis of the spatial overlap between major global religions and seven templates for prioritizing biodiversity action. Our analysis indicated that the majority of these focal areas are situated in countries dominated by Christianity, and particularly the Roman Catholic denomination. Moreover, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches appear to have the greatest per capita opportunity to influence discourse on biodiversity, notwithstanding the role of other religious communities in some key biodiversity areas.

Why conserve biodiversity? A multi-national exploration of stakeholders’ views on the arguments for biodiversity conservation

Given the concern about biodiversity loss, there are a number of arguments used for biodiversity conservation ranging from those emphasising the intrinsic value of biodiversity to those on the direct use value of ecosystems. Yet arguing the case for biodiversity conservation effectively requires an understanding of why people value biodiversity. We used Q methodology to explore and understand how different conservation practitioners (social and natural science researchers, environmental non-Governmental organisations and decision-makers) in nine European countries argue for conservation. We found that there was a plurality of views about biodiversity and its conservation. A moral argument and some arguments around the intrinsic and ecological value of biodiversity were held by all stakeholder groups. They also shared the view that species valuation does not justify the destruction of nature. However, there were also some differences within and between the groups, which primarily reflected the espousal of either ecocentric or anthropocentric viewpoints. Our findings suggest that moral arguments and those around biodiversity’s intrinsic and ecological value could potentially serve as a starting point for building consensus among conservation practitioners.

How does biodiversity conservation argumentation generate effects in policy cycles

Arguments in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of biodiversity policy frame conservation in a range of ways and express interests that can be conflicting. Policy processes are cyclic and iterative by nature and as policies are constantly reformulated, argumentation has an important role at each policy stage. In this paper, we utilise the policy cycle model to shed light on biodiversity-related policy processes and the ways in which argumentation generates effects at different stages of these processes. The paper first draws on literature and the theory-driven assumptions are then illustrated with insights from four European case studies on different policy processes in which biodiversity conservation plays a role. The analysis shows that argumentation tends to evolve over the course of the policy cycle, and framing has a key role across the different policy stages. It is concluded that the ways in which arguments persist, accumulate, diffuse, and replace old arguments, should be the target of increased attention in policy analysis.

Is there a relationship between socio-economic factors and biodiversity in urban ponds? A study in the city of Stockholm

Urban small water bodies, such as ponds, are essential elements of human socio-economic landscapes. Ponds also provide important habitats for species that would otherwise not survive in the urban environment. Knowledge on the biodiversity of urban ponds and the relationship between their ecological value and factors linked to urbanization and socio-economic status is crucial for decisions on where and how to establish and manage ponds in cities to deliver maximum biodiversity benefits. Our study investigates if the pattern of urban-pond biodiversity can be related to different socio-economic factors, such as level of wealth, education or percentage of buildings of different types. Because of lack of previous studies investigating that, our study is of exploratory character and many different variables are used. We found that the biodiversity of aquatic insects was significantly negatively associated with urbanisation variables such as amount of buildings and number of residents living around ponds. This relationship did not differ depending on the spatial scale of our investigation. In contrast, we did not find a significant relationship with variables representing socio-economic status, such as education level and wealth of people. This latter result suggests that the socio-economic status of residents does not lead to any particular effect in terms of the management and function of ponds that would affect biodiversity. However, there is a need for a finer-scale investigation of the different potential mechanism in which residents in areas with differing socio-economic status could indirectly influence ponds.

Why protect biodiversity? Perspectives of conservation professionals in Poland

There are numerous strategies to reverse biodiversity decline, ranging from economic, through ecological, to ethical ones. Which arguments are used in the conservation may have bearing on the actual implementation of biodiversity policies. To understand conservation professionals’ perceptions of biodiversity is particularly important in the countries in transition, where the new environmental policies are being implemented, the approaches to governance are changing and new biodiversity discourses are emerging. This study investigates what the biodiversity conservation professionals in Poland believe the rationale behind conservation is. We reveal two main perspectives – one focused on intrinsic value of biodiversity and one underlining its utilitarian value. Even if the intrinsic value perspective prevails, the economic framing of biodiversity value is emerging. This framing is important in the face of the ongoing changes in Poland with focus on economic development and relatively little attention paid to biodiversity. The utilitarian approach to conservation, reinforced by the concept of ecosystem services, can be used to supplement the emerging biodiversity discourse strengthening the conservation case. The richness of perspectives among the conservation professionals can facilitate deliberate construction of the new conservation discourse in Poland combining the notion of intrinsic value of nature with the utilitarian approach.