Evaluating biodiversity workshops in Chile: are farmers responding with conservation action?

Abstract

Evaluation is a critical component of any conservation education strategy, but especially important in highly threatened ecosystems where no formal incentives for conservation are available. We assessed the effectiveness of biodiversity education workshops in influencing knowledge, beliefs, personal norms and conservation behaviors among Chilean winegrowers. We used a switching replication design with pre, post and follow-up tests to measure the impact of two workshop formats on 164 participants at four wineries. Environmental knowledge increased after workshops and persisted over time. Perceived ability to reduce threats to biodiversity also increased, but only significantly at one winery. No differences were found between the conventional workshop, more focused on technology transfer, and the participatory format. The limited effect of the workshops on variables influencing behavior change suggests modifications are needed. The value-belief-norm theory provided insights on how to improve these conservation education workshops, such as developing messages targeting specific consequences of environmental problems.

Keywords:

• Agriculture
• conservation education
• evaluation
• Mediterranean ecosystems
• participatory workshop
• value-belief-norm theory

Acknowledgments

We thank all the farmers, winemakers, and managers who participated in the workshops and completed the questionnaire multiple times. We are also very grateful to Karina Godoy, Nelida Pohl, Juan Luis Celis, Javiera Diaz, Antonieta Eguren, and Rafael García for making the workshops possible. Thanks to Constanza Alruiz, Gabriela Alvarez, Juan Torres, Nataly Parra, Hans Hidd, Matías Tobar, Stephania Galuppo, Camila Agurto, Olga Quezada, Daniela Araya and Michel Parra for their essential research assistance. We also acknowledge James Colee, at the University of Florida IFAS Statistical Consulting Unit for his help with statistical analyses. Finally, we thank Martha Monroe, Mickie Swisher, Glenn Israel and eight anonymous reviewers for their helpful reviews and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Rufford Foundation and Idea Wild gave financial support, along with funding provided to O.B. from the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT PIA APOYO CCTE AFB170008). M.M.G was supported by a doctoral fellowship from CONICYT and scholarships from the Tropical Conservation and Development Program, the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Graduate School at the University of Florida.