The impacts of knowledge of the past on preferences for future landscape change

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:90

Article

Hanley, Nick¹  Ready, Richard²  Colombo, Sergio³  Watson, Fiona⁴  Bergmann, E. Ariel¹ 

[1] Univ Stirling, Dept Econ, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland

[2] Penn State Univ, Dept Agr Econ & Rural Sociol, University Pk, PA 16802 USA

[3] IFAPA, Dept Agr Econ, Granada, Spain

[4] Univ Dundee, Dept Hist, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland

关键词: Environmental history;    Landscape change;    National parks;    Landscape preferences;    Woodland management;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.08.008

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

In this paper, we investigate whether people's knowledge of the past influences their preferences and values towards future landscape change. Knowledge of the past is one aspect of the information set held by individuals, and a well-established finding in economics is that changes in information can change preferences and values. The particular aspects of knowledge of the past we work with here are: (i) awareness of past landuse, as represented by woodland cover and (ii) awareness of differing and sometimes contradictory literary impressions of this past landscape. The case studies used here relate to prospective changes in woodland cover in two UK national parks, the Lake District and the Trossachs. We find that people who are made aware that the landscape has changed over time, or that perceptions of the landscape have changed over time, are more likely to favour changes to the current landscape (are less likely to favour the status quo). Knowledge of the past therefore seems to have an impact on preferences for future landscapes. We also investigate the impacts on preferences of how special, how wild and how worked in people perceive the landscapes of these two national parks to be. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free