Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Conservation and Human Behavior but Were Afraid to Ask

Abstract

First paragraph: In addressing the current conservation crisis, one species in particular should be our focus of attention, the one with the greatest impact on global biodiversity: Homo sapiens sapiens. Conservation is “the product of human decision‐making processes and requires changes in human behavior to succeed” (Mascia et al. 2003:649). We might “get the biology right,” but conservation still often fails because of insufficient knowledge and understanding of the human context (Saunders 2003). In the last decade, conservation scientists have become increasingly familiar with the concept that “conservation means behavior” and its implications (Schultz 2011). However, there is still a long way to go to wide‐scale application of psychological knowledge in designing conservation projects (Clayton et al. 2013), because conservation scientists are not fully aware of the potential implications of psychological research and practice. Surprisingly, neither do the majority of psychologists recognize the relevance of the natural environment to human physical and mental well‐being (Clayton et al. 2013). The emergence of conservation psychology in the early 2000s clearly indicated the need for a new field addressing nature conservation and human well‐being in an integrated way (Saunders 2003). Conservation psychology is both a new area of focus and an identity: It gathers knowledge on nature‐related aspects of human behavior and has resulted in a community of psychologists who “want to reflect their concern for the future of the planet in their professional identity,” (p. 8) as Clayton and Myers convey in Conservation Psychology: Understanding and Promoting Human Care for Nature.