Human Dimensions and Visitors’ Perspective in Freshwater Crayfish Conservation: The Case of a Protected Area in Italy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area and Target Species
2.2. Recruiting Visitors
2.3. Questionnaire Design
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. General Visitors’ Features
3.2. Respondents’ Awareness and Attitudes towards Conservation Strategies
4. Discussion
Limitation of the Study and Future Developments
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Survey Section | Survey Item | Theme |
---|---|---|
1st section | 1. What activities have you been doing in the park in the last 12 months? (list of ten options: “hunting”, “photography”, “bike riding”, “fishing”, “working activities”, “mushroom picking”, “jogging”, “hiking”, “taking the dog for a walk”, “other”; multiple responses allowed) | Visitors’ activities |
2. Have you been fishing outside the park in the last 12 months? (Yes/No) | ||
3. How often have you visited the park in the last 12 months? (list of six options: “every day or almost every day”, “3/5 times a week”, “1/2 times a week”, “2/3 times a month”, “once a month or every two months”, “less than 6 times”) | ||
4. Have you ever done activities inside the creeks of Monte Barro Park, using items such as shoes, boots, pails, impermeable clothes, nets, boxes, etc.? (Yes/No) | Risky behavior | |
5. In the last 2 years, have you ever heard of people releasing eggs or animals into the creeks of Monte Barro Park? (Yes/No) | ||
6. In the last 2 years, have you ever heard of people fishing crayfish in the creeks of Monte Barro Park? (Yes/No) | ||
2nd section | 7. Have you ever heard of alien species (species not native to an area)? (Yes/No) | Visitors’ knowledge |
8. Which of the following animals live in the creeks of the park? (list of nine options: “crayfish”, “crab”, “freshwater snail”, “toad”, “frog”, “newt”, “trout”, “salamander”, “goby”, plus a free-response question; multiple responses allowed) | ||
9. How many legs do the following animals have?
(open questions) | ||
10. Can you list one or more actions that you can personally do to help the conservation of the species living in the streams of Monte Barro Park? (open question) | ||
11. Are there any crayfish species in the lakes and watercourses of the province of Lecco introduced by people and not native to the territory? (list of six options: “no, none”, “one”, “two”, “three”, “more than three”, “I do not know”) | ||
3rd section | 12. Age (open question) | Visitors’ demographics |
13. Sex (Male/Female) (optional) | ||
14. Postal code of residence (open question) | ||
15. Level of education (list of four options: “Secondary school or lower”, “High School”, “University degree”, “post-Master’s”) | ||
4th section | 16. It is important that Monte Barro Park invests resources to protect the native freshwater crayfish (five options, from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”) | Visitors’ attitudes towards the park’s conservation strategies |
17. To protect the native freshwater crayfish, it is fair to eradicate other crayfish species (five options, from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”) | ||
18. To protect the native freshwater crayfish, people should change their habits (five options, from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”) | ||
19. To protect the native freshwater crayfish, Monte Barro Park should invest in education projects (five options, from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”) |
Variable | Category | N. (%) |
---|---|---|
Sex | Female | 131 (45.2%) |
Male | 147 (50.7%) | |
Unspecified | 12 (4.1%) | |
Age (years) | 18–24 | 31 (11.3%) |
25–34 | 41 (14.0%) | |
35–44 | 70 (24.1%) | |
45–54 | 51 (17.7%) | |
55–64 | 48 (16.4%) | |
65+ | 33 (11.1%) | |
Unspecified | 16 (5.5%) | |
Province 1 | Lecco (LC; park’s province) | 157 (54.1%) |
Milan (MI) | 35 (12.1%) | |
Monza Brianza (MB) | 35 (12.1%) | |
Como (CO) | 12 (4.1%) | |
Other | 8 (2.6%) | |
Abroad | 5 (1.7%) | |
Unspecified | 38 (13.1%) | |
Level of education | Secondary school or lower | 46 (15.9%) |
High school | 147 (50.7%) | |
University degree | 77 (26.6%) | |
Post-master’s | 11 (3.8%) | |
Unspecified | 9 (3.1%) | |
Frequency of park visit | Every day or almost every day | 10 (3.4%) |
3/5 times per week | 15 (5.2%) | |
1/2 times per week | 22 (7.6%) | |
2/3 times per month | 38 (13.1%) | |
1 time per month or every two months | 48 (16.6%) | |
Less than 6 times a year | 157 (54.1%) | |
Park’s activities 2 | Hiking | 224 (78.9%) |
Taking the dog for a walk | 44 (15.5%) | |
Taking photos | 34 (12.0%) | |
Bike riding | 31 (10.9%) | |
Jogging | 25 (8.8%) | |
Hunting | 1 (0.4%) | |
Working or volunteering | 22 (7.7%) | |
Collecting mushrooms | 6 (2.1%) | |
Other | 18 (6.3%) | |
Unspecified | 6 (2.1%) | |
Fishers (outside the park) | Yes | 10 (3.4%) |
No Unspecified | 273 (94.1%) 7 (2.4%) |
N. | Category | Sentences | Frequency |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Pollution/garbage | “Do not pollute”; “Do not throw garbage”; “Collect/reduce plastic”; “Keep clean”; “Do not pollute the aquifers” | 53 |
2 | Protection/respect | “To respect the environment”; “Protection and respect for the habitat”; “Do not build new pounds with no following maintenance”; “Do not damage the habitat”; “Do not make a mess, do not influence the ecosystem”; “Do not impoverish the species” | 22 |
3 | To disturb | “Let them live in peace”; “Do not scare them or catch them”; “Do not touch dens” | 11 |
4 | Fishing/hunting | “Do not fish”; “Do not fish in streams”; “Do not try to kill them” | 12 |
5 | Collect flower/damage plants | “Do not pick flowers”; “Do not damage plants”; “Leave the flora intact” | 10 |
6 | Dissemination/education | “Fishing education”; “Spread”; “Spread information”; “Spread respect for nature” | 7 |
7 | To modify creeks | “Do not destroy the creeks”; “Do not create dams or barriers with stones or woods”; “Cleaning the pounds”; “Do not walk into the creeks”; “Avoid entering into streams”; “Do not enter into the river”; “Do not enter into water with items used in other water bodies to avoid the spread of diseases”; “Do not throw stones in creeks” | 10 |
8 | Promotion of the park | “Come back to visit and advertise the place”; “To organize educational events/nature excursions from the hostel”; “Take photos to be sent to newspaper and TV channels” | 4 |
9 | To know/to inform | “To learn about streams”; “To inform me about the species and what could damage them” | 4 |
10 | To report | “To report if I see people who have incorrect behaviors”; “To report any irregularity during the visit” | 3 |
11 | Species | “Do not introduce new or different species that would alienate the balance of pre-existing ones”; “To remove invasive species”; “To protect native species” | 3 |
12 | Other | “Breeding species without killing them”; “Vegetarianism”; “Do not use cars in the park”; “Release after fishing”, “To control and sensitize tourists not to pollute”; “Control”, “Volunteering”, “Save animals if they are in difficulties”; “Do not light fires”; “Periodically check the flow of nutrients in the streams to ensure the conservation of the species that live there” | 10 |
Agreement with the Sentences | Completely Disagree | Disagree | Neither Agree nor Disagree | Agree | Completely Agree |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
It is important that Monte Barro Park invests resources to protect the native freshwater crayfish. | 5.90% | 2.90% | 11.00% | 37.50% | 41.90% |
To protect the native freshwater crayfish, it is right to eradicate other crayfish species. | 19.20% | 16.60% | 36.90% | 13.70% | 13.70% |
To protect the native freshwater crayfish, people should change their habits. | 8.40% | 4.80% | 12.80% | 35.20% | 38.80% |
To protect the native freshwater crayfish, Monte Barro Park should invest in education projects. | 7.00% | 3.30% | 6.60% | 28.90% | 54.20% |
Pattern | Effect | Estimate | NumDF | DenDF | F | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Funding native crayfish protection actions | Correct alien crayfish mention | + | 1 | 252.79 | 7.13 | <0.01 |
Park frequentation | + | 1 | 178.87 | 1.38 | 0.24 | |
Respondents’ sex (female) | + | 1 | 251.07 | 6.7 | 0.01 | |
Respondents’ age | + | 1 | 233.21 | 0.17 | 0.67 | |
Correct identification of crayfish features (number of legs) | + | 1 | 256.67255 | 3.373 | 0.06 | |
Eradication of alien crayfish to protect native ones | Correct alien crayfish mention | + | 1 | 252 | 22.38 | <0.0001 |
Park frequentation | + | 1 | 252 | 1.02 | 0.31 | |
Stakeholders’ sex (female) | 1 | 252 | 0.01 | 0.91 | ||
Stakeholders’ age | 1 | 252 | 0.75 | 0.38 | ||
Correct identification of crayfish features (number of legs) | + | 1 | 252 | 0.52 | 0.46 | |
Establishment of educational trainings | Correct alien crayfish mention | + | 1 | 256.73255 | 4.6682 | 0.023 |
Park frequentation | - | 1 | 255 | 0.01 | 0.90 | |
Stakeholders’ sex (female) | 1 | 255 | 3.26 | 0.07 | ||
Stakeholders’ age | 1 | 255 | 0.01 | 0.92 | ||
Correct identification of crayfish features (number of legs) | - | 1 | 255 | 1.32 | 0.25 |
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Mercugliano, E.; Messina, V.; Bonelli, M.; Manenti, R.; Scaccini, D.; Ferrante, L.; Biasetti, P.; de Mori, B. Human Dimensions and Visitors’ Perspective in Freshwater Crayfish Conservation: The Case of a Protected Area in Italy. Diversity 2023, 15, 999. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15090999
Mercugliano E, Messina V, Bonelli M, Manenti R, Scaccini D, Ferrante L, Biasetti P, de Mori B. Human Dimensions and Visitors’ Perspective in Freshwater Crayfish Conservation: The Case of a Protected Area in Italy. Diversity. 2023; 15(9):999. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15090999
Chicago/Turabian StyleMercugliano, Elena, Valeria Messina, Marco Bonelli, Raoul Manenti, Davide Scaccini, Linda Ferrante, Pierfrancesco Biasetti, and Barbara de Mori. 2023. "Human Dimensions and Visitors’ Perspective in Freshwater Crayfish Conservation: The Case of a Protected Area in Italy" Diversity 15, no. 9: 999. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15090999