Background
Future scenarios for community-led conservation activity have significant uncertainty attached to them. Community-led conservation necessitates goal-directed planning (pathways) combined with motivation (agency). Snyder’s pathways and agency-based state hope model was adopted as a framework for examining the relationship of hope to current conservation attitudes, and actual and intended conservation action (planting, weeding and pest control). Whilst the research has a New Zealand focus we believe that it has international relevance.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
1) Does hope correlate with current conservation attitudes?
2) Does hope correlate with actual and intended conservation actions?
3) Do current conservation attitudes correlate with current and future conservation actions?
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
A convenience sample of 243 adult New Zealand participants aged 20 to 79 years.
Design
A digital intercept survey recorded the participants' hope state, current conservation attitudes and current and intended conservation actions. Attitudes included connectedness with, and protective efforts and actions for the natural world; belief in a self-healing nature versus scientific and technological intervention; and the relative importance of individual effort and/or teamwork and collaboration.
Results
Our findings show that while hope is not significantly related to current conservation actions, it has a significant relationship with future intentions to carry out conservation actions. Hope is positively, significantly, and moderately correlated with all but one of the conservation attitudes investigated, sharing about 50% of their variance.
Scientific Contribution
This research supports the relevance of Snyder's State Hope Scale in the New Zealand context. This research also indicates applications for the future development of conservation policy and the monitoring of progress towards conservation goals. Identifying and deliberately supporting attitudinal and action-related factors derived from such future research may directly benefit and sustain community-led conservation success, potentially reducing the uncertainty surrounding future community conservation action.