Garden centre customer attitudes to pollinators and pollinator-friendly planting

PeerJ

article

Veronica R. Wignall¹  Karin Alton¹  Francis L.W. Ratnieks¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex

关键词: Pollination;    Pollinators;    Bees;    Garden centres;    Pro-environmental behaviour;    Questionnaires;    Interviews;    Horticulture;    Wildlife gardening;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.7088

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Growing nectar- and pollen-rich flowering plant varieties in domestic gardens and other greenspace is an important pro-environmental behaviour that supports pollinating insects. Wildlife gardening is popular in the UK; however, public attitudes and behaviour relating to planting for pollinators are currently not well understood. We investigated these through questionnaires and interviews with customers in five garden centres in Sussex, southeast England, a relevant and useful consumer group representing horticulturally-engaged members of the public. Garden centre customers had strongly positive attitudes and were motivated to plant for bees and other pollinators: most (77%) grew pollinator-friendly varieties, while 64% would be more likely to buy a plant with a pollinator-friendly logo. Personal motivation to support pollinators was linked to a recent increase in personal and public awareness of their declines through (often negativistic) information from mass media sources. Practical implications of these findings in relation to the horticultural retail industry are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY