Public preferences for the management of different invasive alien forest taxa

Abstract

Invasive alien species (IAS) require management to mitigate their impact on ecosystems. The success of management decisions often depends on whether they are socially acceptable and to what extent people are willing to be actively involved in an early warning and rapid response system (EWRR). We administered a nationwide public poll to assess people's knowledge on plant, insect and fungal IAS; their perception of IAS as an environmental problem; and their support for different IAS management measures. Most respondents (76%) knew the term IAS, and more than half (62%) provided a correct definition. Species with more media attention and those that are easily visible are more frequently identified correctly. Almost all respondents (97%) support an EWRR system; however, there is heterogeneity in terms of the types of actions people approve of. Non-lethal measures garner more support than lethal ones. Gender and previous knowledge also affect the level of agreement. The willingness-to-pay question largely confirmed this, as people were divided into four classes according to their preferences for either biological, mechanical or chemical measures to control IAS; completeness and location of removal; and having an EWRR established. Mechanical removal is the most preferred treatment in two of the four classes, and complete removal is preferred over partial removal in one of the four classes. Having an EWRR is consistently supported in all classes, and removal in urban areas is preferred over removal in forestland in only one class.

Corythucha arcuata (Say, 1832) (Hemiptera, Tingidae) in its invasive range in Europe: perception, knowledge and willingness to act in foresters and citizens

“…In any case, given the current pattern of invasion across the European oak forests for this species (Mutun et al 2009;Csepelényi et al 2017;Simov et al 2018;Tomescu et al 2018;Csóka et al 2019;Paulin et al 2020), the complete removal would now be impossible. In addition, in this study, women were more reluctant to support complete removal of OLB, which is in line with other studies (Fuller et al 2016;Japelj et al 2019). Furthermore, our research showed that the age of respondents also makes a difference.…”

“…However, in part, it is also likely due to the media interest that, in the last few years, has intensely covered the invasions in several cities in Europe where OLB is already established and damage is more visible, such as in Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest and Zagreb. In addition, the estimation parameters in this study tended to confirm the hypothesis of a previous case study (Japelj et al 2019) that argued that women or more frequent visitors to the forest, were more likely to correctly recognise an IAS that was not easily visible.…”

“…Our results on the level of support for the removal of OLB complement another study (Japelj et al 2019) which concluded that respondents were more likely to choose less radical measures for management of invasive plants and animals. In our research, the results showed that this conclusion also applies to invasive insects, more specifically OLB, since our respondents were more likely to choose partial removal of OLB and not its complete eradication.…”

“…This means that we still have little information on whether and how the public perceive invasive alien insects and, in particular OLB, as well as what kind of management of these alien insects would be acceptable to the general public. A recent study showed that people generally support management of invasive species (Japelj et al 2019). However, there is no such study targeting management of OLB.…”

Tourist intentions to donate to non-lethal feral cat management at a potential natural World Heritage site in Japan

“…Lethal options are the most common methods applied for successful eradication programs (Nogales et al, 2004) because they are considered more cost-effective than the in situ non-lethal option (Trap, Neuter, and Release [TNR]; Lohr et al, 2013). However, using lethal options for invasive species management often causes conservation conflicts, especially in residential areas (Japelj et al, 2019) because lethal options are not accepted by some citizens, particularly animal welfare stakeholders and cat owners (Lohr & Lepczyk, 2014;Mameno et al, 2017;. In particular, Japanese feral cat management has serious conservation conflicts because the rate of acceptance of the lethal option tends to be low among Japanese people.…”