Alien Species.vp - IUCN

“This IAS could cause severe impacts to our citrus industry and economic hardship for our
growers. We must keep it from entering the country.”
Toward (40%); Equally Toward and Away From (20%); Away From (40%)
Source This pattern defines where people seek their criteria (e.g., measures of success or
failure etc.). Internal people use their own standards to compare information and make
decisions. They “just know” what the answer is and have a tendency to resist a decision (even a
good one) that is made by someone else. They are motivated by statements like “I’m sure you
know that it is in your industry’s best interest not to deliberately import and create a market for
a plant that has proven to be an IAS in several other countries.” External people rely
extensively on other people to provide criteria and make decisions. They need others to tell
them whether they are being successful or not. They are motivated by statements like “I think
you should consider rangeland conservation your highest priority and therefore you should
establish a program to remove leafy spurge.”
Internal (40%); Equally Internal and External (20%); External (40%)
Reason This pattern defines how people decide what to do. Options people prefer to have
choices and will seek out alternatives to directives (even if the directive is to use a tried and true
procedure). They are motivated by statements like “There are a number of ways to approach
this problem. Let’s examine these three management options and select the one that will be the
most effective for this situation.” People with an affinity for procedures prefer to follow
specific guidelines (but may not be good at developing them), especially if it is the “right” way
to do something. These people are motivated by statements like “The best way to solve this
problem is to educate pet owners not to release unwanted pets. Here’s what will work: First we
will find industry representatives that support our perspective, then we will work with them to
develop flyers about the issue, and finally we will jointly put in place a campaign to give the
flyers to each person when he or she purchases a pet.”
Options (40%); Equally Options and Procedures (20%); Procedures (40%)
Further discussion of these patterns in the context of communication can be found under
“Response Measures” toward the end of the chapter.
Hierarchy of Criteria
People map criteria in a hierarchical pattern. Some are more important than others and thus
“demand” higher priority in decision making and actions. If you can identity the ordered
criteria someone applies in a specific context, you can understand what motivates their
behaviour, and to what degree (Charvet, 1997). We are more likely to be conscious of the lower
criteria than the higher ones. The highest criteria most fully support our sense of identity and
spirit, and are strongly motivating. “If I do this, I will have security.” “This is a God given
right.”
Numerous authors have categorized the reasons that people have intentionally introduced
IAS (Table 3). Low (this volume) points out that modern values (criteria), including love of
mobility, freedom, speed, diversity, progress, familiarity, and a mechanistic view of nature,
further contribute to our IAS problems. Hattingh (this volume) supports this perspective and
points out a wide range of values (criteria) relevant to the IAS issue, including ecosystem
health, biodiversity, naturalness, animal welfare, recreation, aesthetics, and economics.
95
Human dimensions of invasive alien species