Attitudes towards nature, wilderness and protected areas: a way to sustainable stewardship in the South-Western Carpathians

Abstract

The acceptance and support by those who live in and around the largest remaining wilderness of Europe is very important for the success of a planned network of designated wilderness areas that should preserve the area's wilderness values. A standardised questionnaire was administered in person to 322 local residents. A cluster analysis revealed two human–nature relationship types: traditional nature users and progressive nature friends, which differ significantly in their feelings towards wilderness and attitude towards protected areas. The generally positive attitudes towards wilderness and the neutral attitudes towards the existing protected areas are a good starting point for communication about, and establishment of, the wilderness areas. As a quarter of the local population is not aware that they are living in a protected area, they should be informed during information events in the localities about the exact location of the planned wilderness zones and the potential consequences for them.

Keywords:

• human–nature relationship
• protected area
• attitudes
• wilderness
• Carpathians

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the inhabitants of the 12 localities who participated in this study. The authors would like to thank Raluca Crista and Mara Sibiu from WWF Romania and Valerie Passardi and Matthias Diemer from WWF Switzerland for their support throughout the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation [CSP Fonds 7F-08048.01, Project 02].