Wester Julia
Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America.
Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Oct 10;18(10):e0287930. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287930. eCollection 2023.
Understanding public perceptions, values, and preferences can be fundamental to effective conservation governance, management, and outreach. This is particularly true in socially and ecologically complex marine and coastal spaces, where many relevant questions remain. The social-ecological system of Biscayne Bay and Miami-Dade are on the frontier of problems that will soon engulf many coastal-urban systems. Despite the economic, ecological, and cultural importance of Biscayne Bay, research into the social components of this social-ecological system is distinctly lacking. In order to effectively address urgent coastal management issues, practitioners and policy-makers need a clear understanding of public perceptions, values, and priorities. In this paper I present the results of a large online survey (n = 1146) exploring public attitudes toward Biscayne Bay as a case study of management and opportunity in a complex coastal social-ecological system. Results describe a public that interacts with and utilizes Biscayne Bay in a variety of ways, from leisure and recreation, to subsistence. This public believes the Bay to be moderately healthy, though somewhat in decline, and has experienced a range of local environmental threats, about which they feel considerable concern. These interactions and concerns are in turn reflected in overwhelming endorsement of value statements regarding the ecological, material, cultural and economic importance of the ecosystem to the city, as well as high levels of support for policy actions to protect and restore that ecosystem. Together these findings indicate that additional policy steps to preserve and restore Biscayne Bay would enjoy support from the local public and demonstrate the power of public perceptions research to identify gaps and opportunities for management and outreach.
了解公众认知、价值观和偏好对于有效的保护治理、管理及宣传至关重要。在社会和生态复杂的海洋及沿海地区,情况尤其如此,因为许多相关问题依然存在。比斯坎湾和迈阿密 - 戴德县的社会生态系统处于诸多问题的前沿,这些问题很快就会席卷许多沿海城市系统。尽管比斯坎湾在经济、生态和文化方面具有重要意义,但对该社会生态系统社会组成部分的研究却明显不足。为了有效解决紧迫的沿海管理问题,从业者和政策制定者需要清楚了解公众的认知、价值观和优先事项。在本文中,我展示了一项大型在线调查(n = 1146)的结果,该调查以比斯坎湾为例,探讨公众对复杂沿海社会生态系统中管理与机遇的态度。结果表明,公众以多种方式与比斯坎湾互动并利用它,从休闲娱乐到维持生计。公众认为该海湾状况尚可,但有所衰退,并且经历了一系列当地环境威胁,对此他们深感担忧。这些互动和担忧反过来又体现在对有关该生态系统对城市的生态、物质、文化和经济重要性的价值陈述的压倒性认可上,以及对保护和恢复该生态系统的政策行动的高度支持上。这些研究结果共同表明,保护和恢复比斯坎湾的更多政策措施将得到当地公众的支持,并证明公众认知研究在识别管理和宣传方面的差距与机遇方面的作用。