Public perceptions of management priorities for the English Channel region

Abstract

The English Channel region is an area of high conservational importance, as well being a contributor to economic prosperity, social well-being and quality of life of the people living around it. There is a need to incorporate societal elements into marine and coastal governance, to improve management of the Channel ecosystem. Public Perception Research (PPR) is a relatively unexplored dimension of marine science, with limited research at the scale of the Channel region. U , the C rine and coastal environment. It revealed that there are variations in how the English and French coastlines are used. Environmental issues were generally viewed as being more important than economic ones. Country-level differences were observed for public uses of, and priorities for the Channel region. Cleaner water and beaches, and improved coastal flood defences, were more highly prioritised by English respondents, while offshore renewable energy and sustainability of businesses were more highly prioritised by French respondents. The paper contributes to the debate on the value of PPR by addressing evidence gaps in the English Channel region, and to PPR literature more broadly. It provides baseline data to inform future engagement strategies for the marine and coastal governance of the Channel region specifically. It also identifies how this type of research has implications for the wider marine and coastal environment, including contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 14 on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas, and marine resources. Research highlights:  The paper presents survey findings on public use of and priorities for the Channel.  There are country-level differences in public use and priorities for the Channel.  Environmental issues are generally viewed as more important than economic ones.  English and French coasts present different opportunities for leisure and recreation.  PPR is important for governance of global marine and coastal environments.

Examining Relations Between Public Participation and Public Expenditure: Opinions from English and French Users on Environmental Issues in the English Channel

“…The respondents were requested to rank the level of importance they placed on each funding priority, using a scale from not important to very important. These preferences have been considered elsewhere [21] and are not considered in this paper. To promote tourism and interest in the history, culture and geology and other attractions on the Channel coast To support local businesses providing services or goods to visitors and tourists to the Channel Coast…”

“…level includes a study of public opinion on the key issues facing the European Union (EU), with issues including immigration, the economy, and environment [20]. Understanding the public's views on future priorities for the governance of the environment can enable national and local government authorities to make informed decisions regarding future funding priorities and management, and lead to improved cooperation between stakeholders, institutions and governments [21].…”

“…At the regional level, there has been research into public preferences for use of the Baltic Sea [34]. At the national level, in the United Kingdom (UK) there have been studies performed on public engagement with, and attitudes towards, the wider environment [35], attitudes towards marine protection and the marine environment [21,36,37], and on public participation in making local environmental decisions [38]. There has been little research on linking public participation, public expenditure, and pro-environmental behaviour, especially for marine environments.…”

Understanding Local Perceptions of the Drivers/Pressures on the Coastal Marine Environment in Palawan, Philippines

“…Understanding public perception is widely recognized as key to the management of the coastal marine environment. However, to date, most of these studies have been focused in high-income continents, e.g., Australia (Cvitanovic et al, 2014;Clarke et al, 2016) and Europe (Gelcich et al, 2014;Aretano et al, 2017;Tonin and Lucaroni, 2017;White et al, 2017;Carpenter et al, 2018). Although there have been numerous studies on perceptions of the marine environment conducted in the Global South, these were mostly site-specific on a case-by-case basis (Slater et al, 2013;Chaigneau and Daw, 2015;Gehrig et al, 2018;Glaser et al, 2018).…”

“…Furthermore, differences in perceptions can relate to socio-demographic characteristics (Wright and Lund, 2003;Safford and Hamilton, 2012;Cvitanovic et al, 2014;Halkos and Matsiori, 2018). These socio-demographic variables typically include gender (Smith et al, 2015;Chakraborty et al, 2017;Ensor et al, 2018), age (Arcury and Christianson, 1990), income (Van Liere and Dunlap, 1980), education (Sparrevik et al, 2011), location (country and village level) (Chaigneau and Daw, 2015;Buckley et al, 2017;Carpenter et al, 2018;Gehrig et al, 2018) and ethnicity (Jones, 2002). Although their findings are variable, some potential trends emerge, suggesting that women, higher educational attainment, younger people, those with a higher income, ethnic minorities, and urban residents show greater environmental concern compared to their counterparts (Liu and Mu, 2016;Ergun and Rivas, 2019).…”