Humans are helpful: centering people in restoration messaging increases their likelihood of engaging in some restoration actions

Le résumé fourni par la source

As biodiversity has decreased dramatically in recent decades, the importance of conservation efforts and, specifically, ecological restoration, in preserving natural ecosystems has grown in importance. To achieve necessary biodiversity outcomes, it is crucial that the public support policies and engage in behaviors that contribute to restoration. Individuals also play a crucial role in the actual process of restoration. This research tests the impact of messaging that emphasizes the effect of human intervention in ecological restoration relative to nature‐centric messaging. We conducted a survey with a sample of students, staff, and faculty at a Midwestern university. Respondents were randomly assigned to read a narrative accompanied by a detailed scientific illustration that emphasized responsibility for successful restoration to human volunteers or bison as the primary agents of ecosystem repair. Our results show that centering people in restoration messaging led to respondents being more likely to engage in pro‐restoration behaviors than centering nature in messaging. People‐centric messaging resulted in similar pro‐restoration attitudes and policy preferences when compared to nature‐centric messaging. These findings have implications for how restoration managers, science communicators, and others can most effectively message in promoting restoration to the public.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.