Investigating Gaps in Perception of Wildlife between Urban and Rural Inhabitants: Empirical Evidence from Japan

A decline in natural resource management by rural communities has significantly contributed to human–wildlife conflicts, especially crop-raiding, in Japan. Collaborative wildlife management between existing rural stakeholders and new urban stakeholders is essential to address this problem. However,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2019-09, Vol.11 (17), p.4516
Main Authors: Kato, Eri, Yano, Yuki, Ohe, Yasuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bears
Collaboration
Content analysis
Natural resource management
Natural resources
Perception
Perceptions
Polls & surveys
Population
Populations
Qualitative analysis
Resource management
Rural areas
Rural communities
Rural environments
Rural populations
Stakeholders
Sustainability
Urban areas
Urban populations
Wildlife management
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Summary:A decline in natural resource management by rural communities has significantly contributed to human–wildlife conflicts, especially crop-raiding, in Japan. Collaborative wildlife management between existing rural stakeholders and new urban stakeholders is essential to address this problem. However, differences in the perception regarding wildlife exist between rural populations, which have ample direct experience with wildlife, and urban populations, which lack direct experience with wildlife. Consequently, this gap in perception can potentially lead to conflicts between stakeholders during collaborative wildlife management. In this study, content analysis, which has been extensively employed to analyze qualitative data, was performed to elucidate the differences in perception of wildlife between urban and rural stakeholders. An online survey was conducted in December 2016 to understand the perception of wildlife by stakeholders, in which 1401 responses were received. The results indicate that the urban individuals did not have a comprehensive understanding of wildlife and any positive views were primarily abstract. Conversely, rural individuals had diverse perceptions, both positive and negative. Therefore, a novel perceptual gap-narrowing approach based on staged interactions with the rural environment, is suggested. Introduction to rural issues through field-based experiences to urban stakeholders is likely to the narrow gaps in perception between urban and rural stakeholders, in order to allow for efficient and collaborative wildlife management.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11174516