Abstracts Category : Other

Attitudes towards wildlife conservation NSW, Australia

by Megan C Fabian

This thesis examines peoples attitudes and behaviours towards wildlife conservation in NSW, Australia. Major threats to Australian wildlife include exotic weeds, changing fire regimes, climate change, mining activities, grazing pressure, disease, habitat loss and introduced predators. These threats are contributing to the decline of our native wildlife species, which play a key role in maintaining ecosystem functioning and highlights the need for wildlife conservation in Australia. Peoples attitudes towards the conservation of Australian wildlife is of particular importance because the types of attitudes and intentions people hold can have a significant impact on conservation outcomes. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 312 NSW residents to participate in an online questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. An ecoscientistic attitude was the most commonly held attitude, hence wildlife are appreciated for the role they play within our ecosystem. Participants previous experiences had a strong impact on their wildlife conservation attitudes. The type of attitude held, however, is dependent on the wildlife species in question. In particular, people showed a preference for conserving mammals. Despite the attitudes expressed in the questionnaire indicating strong conservation attitudes, the participants intention to engage in conservation behaviours was low. Rates of participation in conservation were low due to lack of time, money, knowledge and impact of health and fitness levels. Further research is required to identify how to overcome the barriers to conservation action. The findings from this thesis provide a better understanding of the attitudes of NSW residents to the conservation of native Australian wildlife. The knowledge gained from this study can be harnessed to inform future policy and management decisions, especially towards actions that promote conservation for non-mammal species that are under-represented and endangered. In addition, the study provides a foundation for further enquiry into the human dimensions of wildlife in Australia.Advisors/Committee Members: Western Sydney University. School of Science and Health (Host institution).