Landowners' Participation in Biodiversity Conservation Examined through the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

Landowners' choice of management practices will directly affect the conservation of biodiversity in large-scale productive landscapes such as forests and agricultural areas. Using the value-belief-norm theory, this study identifies the extent to which landowners differ regarding the psychological variables antecedent of a moral obligation to protect local biodiversity after participation in conservation programmes. A survey was carried out among 280 landowners who had to varying degrees participated in either voluntary forest preservation or wetland restoration. The results showed that the landowner groups did not differ in fundamental value structure and ecological worldview. Landowner groups that had participated in the projects tended to be more aware of consequences, ascribing more responsibility to themselves and expressing personal norms obligating them to participate in local biodiversity conservation more than landowners who did not participate. Local biodiversity conservation could benefit from addressing the psychological antecedents of the moral obligation among landowners in parallel with removing structural barriers.