Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
The constitutional dictate to protect biodiversity in Papua New Guinea
is implemented through legislative and project initiatives that most
commentators believe are inadequate. A new impetus for conservation has
emerged through funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
We reviewed 20 years of conservation projects in PNG and suggest
ways to improve on them. In the past there have been differing world
views and motivations for conservation between project proponents and
locals, and a profound lack of insight into the local cultural context. The
development aspirations of locals have not been met by projects that could
not compete with extractive industries. And when they tried, economic
motivations took attention away from conservation and this disappeared
completely when goods and services were not delivered. Projects alienated
local people by not sharing knowledge and information with them during
design and implementation. Project proponents need to work with locals in
defining conservation in the local context and understanding its practical
implications for things like food security, cultural survival and adaptation
to climate change. Projects must operate at appropriate social scales
and support not supplant local knowledge and social systems. Strategic
partnerships are required to avoid conservationists filling the role of other
groups. Careful attention to past mistakes and ways of avoiding them
should result in more conservation successes in PNG.
Supporting on-ground education & outreach efforts, e.g. Baviaanskloof
Nature Awareness Group - a grassroots initiative driven by local youth as
a result of their combined efforts to reconnect themselves, school children
and broader community with nature. This poster will present research and
education outputs from each of the above areas.
2011-12-07 18:00 Meaningful nature experiences: reconnecting
society with a conservation ethic
ZYLSTRA, MJ*, Dept. Conservation Ecology & Entomology,
Stellenbosch University; Knight, AT, Dept. Conservation Ecology &
Entomology,Stellenbosch University; Esler, KJ, Dept. Conservation
Ecology & Entomology,Stellenbosch University; Le Grange, L, Faculty
of Education (Curriculum Studies), Stellenbosch University;
Eco-literacy decline, technology immersion, information saturation and the
‘extinction of experience’ are all recognised as contributors to the disconnect
separating an increasingly urbanized society and the rest of nature. Bridging
this divide is a transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral endeavour which must
simultaneously focus on policy change and personal change. Conservation
science’s efforts have largely focused on policy change with rational
information-rich ‘need to act’ messages. Such messages are often ineffective
in engaging the public at the personal level. Environmental psychology
perspectives reveal that we must rather emotionally inspire the individual
with ‘love to act’ messages. Meaningful nature experiences (MNEs)
provide an avenue for realising multiple aspirations linked to societal
engagement and the fostering of a sustainability ethic. Mixed methods
research involving persons who have had profound encounters with wildlife
provides new evidence for being more connected to nature and impassioned
for conservation. Results suggest that MNEs influence an individual’s
behaviour toward the environment (the outer) and also support human
development (the inner). Education influences how MNEs are perceived,
particularly with reference to the impact of invasive alien species. This all
carries implications when designing educational and/or social marketing
interventions. We conclude that MNEs should become more central to the
conservation-society dialogue.
2011-12-08 18:30 The science, action and art of reconnecting with
nature through meaningful experience
ZYLSTRA, MJ*, Dept. Conservation Ecology & Entomology,
Stellenbosch University;
eyes4earth.org is an action research initiative encouraging shared learning
about the benefits of reconnecting with nature through meaningful
experience. eyes4earth.org is a transdisciplinary endeavour exploring: 1.
If/how meaningful experiences and profound encounters with wildlife
reconnect humans with nature; 2. How ecological change (focusing on
impacts from alien invasive species) affects the intensity and frequency of
meaningful nature experiences; and 3. How insights from such experiences
may practically inform action-oriented education for sustainability (in
building social-ecological resilience). eyes4earth.org aims to stimulate
public awareness and reflection on the profound ways we benefit,
interact and participate with nature. It is doing this through: 1. Science:
Strengthening capacity to further research on the links between meaningful
experience and connectedness to nature to better inform education for
sustainability; 2. Art: Utilising a range of social media tools to engage and
interact with the public. Sharing personal stories collated on meaningful
nature experiences through creative audio and visual material; 3. Action:
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