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Farmers and nature conservation: What is known about attitudes, context factors and actions affecting conservation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2008

Johan Ahnström ,
Jenny Höckert ,
Hanna L. Bergeå ,
Charles A. Francis ,
Peter Skelton  and
Lars Hallgren
Johan Ahnström*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7023, S75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
Jenny Höckert
Affiliation:
Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7012, SE75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
Hanna L. Bergeå
Affiliation:
Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7012, SE75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
Charles A. Francis
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska, 102B KCR, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA.
Peter Skelton
Affiliation:
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 87701, USA.
Lars Hallgren
Affiliation:
Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7012, SE75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
*
*Corresponding author: johan.ahnstrom@ekol.slu.se
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Abstract

Farmers' attitudes towards viability of specific conservation practices or actions strongly impact their decisions on adoption and change. This review of ‘attitude’ information reveals a wide range of perceptions about what conservation means and what the impacts of adoption will mean in economic and environmental terms. Farmers operate in a tight financial situation, and in parts of the world they are highly dependent on government subsidies, and cannot afford to risk losing that support. Use of conservation practices is most effective when these are understood in the context of the individual farm, and decisions are rooted in land and resource stewardship and long-term concerns about health of the farm and the soil. The attitudes of farmers entering agri-environmental schemes decide the quality of the result. A model is developed to show how attitudes of the farmer, the farming context and agri-environmental schemes interact and thus influence how the farming community affects nature and biodiversity. As new agri-environmental schemes are planned, agricultural development specialists need to recognize the complexity of farmer attitudes, the importance of location and individual farmer circumstances, and the multiple factors that influence decisions. We provide these insights and the model to conservation biologists conducting research in farming areas, decision makers who develop future agri-environmental schemes, educators training tomorrow's extension officers and nature conservationists, and researchers dealing with nature conservation issues through a combination of scientific disciplines.

Keywords

attitudebiodiversitystewardshipagri-environmental scheme
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 38 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

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