This document summarizes research into the motivations of volunteers in local nature conservation groups in order to inform local policies and plans. It finds that volunteers have multiple motivations including social interaction and environmental stewardship that are not currently recognized in conservation policies. The research implies that local communities should be actively involved in policy-making so their motivations and local knowledge can shape more effective, accepted policies that empower communities and facilitate nature conservation.
3. FINDINGS
STAMFORD COMMUNITY ORCHARD GROUP (SCOG)
Apple day, apple display
Cider tasting
Wassailing
Stamford community orchard
Apple pressing
demonstration
4. FRIENDS OF BOURNE WOOD
Bourne community orchard
Winter bird walk
Bourne Woods
Bunny hunt
5. GREEN SYNERGY
Street gardening at Canon street
Tower community garden
Well, l know people that live on the same
street as me that l met here. So yaah!! l
would have never have met them (Vol, 3)
It gets me out, making friends, of different
ages and inabilities (Vol, 5)
7. COMMENTS FROM THE POLICY PRACTITIONER
AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS
“If a policy makers understood people’s motivations and if local plans
are more local, they would incorporate local knowledge and they will
be more accepted by the people, if they take part in developing them.
The policy makers could also target their consultations better, they
always struggle to get responses that are meaningful, so would be
able to make meaningful and informed decisions if they knew the
motivations of the local people.” (Stakeholder 1, GLNP)
“With regards to local planning, ecology is so important to our
setting, to our environment and you need someone who understands
it and is prepared to help with environment assessment and writing
reports and looking at things from a structural view. We are very
lucky that we have the NWT to do environmental assessment and
produce an ecology report and this is essential in informing the
process” ( Parish Councillor, Nettleham village)
8. SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
It appears that local communities have multiple motivations for
participating in nature conservations and these motivations are not
recognised in nature conservation policy documents and local
planning policies, yet they can be utilised to shape the policies,
resulting in value-oriented policies.
In light of sustainable development and neo-endogenous
development theory, local communities have a pivotal role to play in
determining the future of their communities, as such understanding
their motivations is key, as the choices made about the future will
emanate from people’s motivations.
Therefore local communities should be actively involved in making
local policies. This will result in effective policies that can translate
into local action, as the plans are highly likely to be more accepted by
the people, if they have taken part in developing them.
9. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study contributes to the Big Society ideology, which encourages
volunteering and involvement in social action to empower the local
communities to take responsibility of their local areas.
The Localism bill that was passed in 2011 to encourage neighbourhood
planning, gives the nature groups an opportunity to reveal their motivations
for nature conservation and have their views and values acknowledged in
making local policies
Therefore planning officers need to facilitate information exchange through
effective dialogue between the policy practitioners and the voluntary nature
groups, so that a common motivational ground can be reached, hence see
the motivations of the locals, as well as their local knowledge being
incorporated in policy making.
10. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
(CONT…)
This would see policies and programs being tailored in line with the
motivations of volunteers, resulting in more positive results from
implemented policies, as the locals would have contributed to making the
policies and therefore have a sense of ownership for the policy outcomes
It is key to note that; motivations of voluntary participants in nature
conservation change over time, further research is required to make
observations over a long period of time and shade more light on how and
why these motivations change and what impact would this have on the
value-oriented approach to policy making.
smarango@lincoln.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
Sustainable development is an approach to decision making, widely used to guide planning, takes a long term focus, incorporates social, economic and environmental factors, and recognizes the interdependence of domestic and global activities. It is an ethical principle that incorporates a commitment to equity between the current generation and those that will follow. While one of the sources that the neo-endogenous theory draws from is the argument about rural sustainability which is perceived to be people-centred, initiated and driven by local people (Lowe et al., 1995:91) whilst recognising and utilising extra-local factors to the advantage of the local community (Van der Ploeg and Long, 1995:1-2 and Ray, 2001:4) One of the sources that the neo-endogenous theory draws from is the argument about rural sustainability which is perceived to be place-based, people-centred, initiated and driven by local people (Lowe et al., 1995:91) whilst recognising and utilising extra-local factors to the advantage of the local community (Van der Ploeg and Long, 1995:1-2 and Ray, 2001:4). The neo-endogenous development framework and the principles of sustainable development (SD) were applied to demonstrate the capabilities for local communities to manage their natural resources and investigations were made on how their local knowledge and motivations to participate in nature conservation can be utilised to inform local policies and therefore complement the knowledge of the policy practitioners.
Preserving heritage through growing old apple varieties is the one of the highest motivation for most members of this group. Environmental protection and community development also emerged as motivations for participating in nature conservation activities. Wassailing is one of the social events used to create awareness about old apple tree varieties and a demonstration is also made on cider making and testing to encourage apple preservation. Apple day also serves as an event to create awareness on old apple varieties and a demonstration on apple pressing is staged, again to encourage apple preservation.
Environmental protection emerged as the major drive for most participants interviewed and the Bourne Woodland serves as amenity for local and extra communities. Events such as bunny hunt, bird walks, grass identification etcetera are conducted in the woods to create awareness on environmental protection. Recently, an orchard has been established adjacent to the woodland and this was to discourage a proposed project on road development by the local authorities and this road was to cut through the woodland. It is evidence that the nature group had a strong voice, but it could not be established whether the proposed developmental projects would have benefitted the community.
Green Synergy participants generally appeared to have a natural interest in gardening activities, however joining or forming a group to carry out nature conservation gardening activities was mainly to create social networks, as most of the members are from the marginalised groups in society.
Upon analysing the results from the four cases, the findings indicate that environmental protection appear to be viewed by most participants as the most important motivation that got them to participate in nature conservation activities, while community development was viewed as the least motivational aspect. However, it should be noted that, for some participants their motivations have changed over time (give example, NWT), while for some it was difficult to prioritise the motivations as all aspects are important for them.
By understanding the motivations of the volunteers and utilising them to come up with policies that are value-oriented and effective, as the locals are highly likely to commit to their successful implementation on the ground, as the views and value of the locals would have been incorporated.
