Browsing by Subject "Relational values"

Despite much scholarly attention given to values and preferences toward the environment, comparatively few studies have examined the spatial relationships between relational values and more established concepts including instrumental and intrinsic values, self-reported knowledge of natural resource management issues, and perceived landscape threats. This study examines these context-based relationships using public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) survey techniques. An online PPGIS survey was administered during the summer of 2019 to 1,200 residents in Mjölby kommun in Sweden, a community heavily reliant upon silvo-pastoral landscape use. A total of 301 responses were obtained, resulting in a 25.1% response rate. Spatial association and statistical analyses tests were conducted to examine the relationships between different categories of values, self-reported knowledge of natural resource management issues, and values and preferences for landscape threat management. Results indicate that socio-demographics alone have little to no significant impact on how many value points of any category are associated with the environment; however, significant differences in the spatial distribution of values were found by gender and self-reported knowledge of forestry, agriculture, and native biodiversity. Male respondents tended to assign instrumental values in more diverse areas across the landscape. Respondents who rated themselves as knowledgeable about biodiversity tended to assign relational values inside Natura 2000 sites, while those who rated themselves as knowledgeable about forestry avoided placing instrumental values in Natura 2000 sites. Contrary to expectations, instrumental values were the most evenly dispersed across the landscape, while intrinsic values were more concentrated in specific areas, and relational values were the most concentrated around the towns of Mjölby, Skänninge, and Mantorp. High degrees of spatial overlap were found between intrinsic and relational values, implying these value types may be conceptually similar for residents. Future PPGIS research could focus on smaller regions such as those at the municipal or regional level to more precisely identify the context-specific relationships between instrumental, relational and intrinsic values and natural resource management preferences in the local landscape.