Culture and conservation: strategies for reversing population declines in seabirds
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Published source details
Blanchard K.A. & Monroe M.C. (1990) Culture and conservation: strategies for reversing population declines in seabirds. Endangered Species Update, 7, 1-5.
Published source details Blanchard K.A. & Monroe M.C. (1990) Culture and conservation: strategies for reversing population declines in seabirds. Endangered Species Update, 7, 1-5.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Use education programmes and local engagement to help reduce persecution or exploitation of species Action Link |
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Use education programmes and local engagement to help reduce persecution or exploitation of species
A replicated, before-and-after study from 1978-1988 using 141 heads-of-households interviewed before (1981-1982) and after (1988) the wide-scale implementation of the Marine Bird Conservation Project in the coastal North Shore region of Quebec, Canada (Blanchard & Monroe 1990) found that conservation behaviour and seabird populations significantly increased after educational campaigns (including hands-on lessons, field trips, local volunteering, academic materials and creative productions). All seabird populations, especially the alcids (average increase > 50%), significantly increased from 1978-1988 following a decline from 1955-1978. There were significant reductions in respondents who believed that it should be legal to hunt Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica (54% to 30%), razorbills Alca torda (59% to 38%), and common guillemot Uria aalge (76% to 65%) but no change in perception of common eider Somateria mollissima or herring gull Larus argentatus hunting. The percentage of family members involved in hunting dropped significantly from 76% to 48% and the average number of birds reported as needed per year dropped from 44 to 24.
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