• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Friday, December 8, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

You don’t need to know nature to love it – study

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 10, 2021
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Research involving farmers in Brazilian Amazon is first of its kind in Global South

IMAGE

Credit: Photo by Katarzyna Mikolajczak

A common belief in nature conservation is that people need to “know nature” in order to care about it. However, new research has found that farmers in the Brazilian Amazon can develop strong connections with nature despite having little knowledge of local biodiversity – in this case local bird species.

The study, led by researchers at UK and Brazilian institutions, and published in the journal People and Nature, examined the psychological attachment to nature amongst non-indigenous farmers who have settled in the Transamazon Highway region, an area of the Amazon that is experiencing deforestation.

The majority of farmers expressed views that indicated a strong connection with nature, despite recognising fewer than half of the species in the survey. The research, which involved interviews with 227 farmers, found that knowledge of birds and nature connection were not correlated, and they did not have any predictors in common.

Many farmers recognised bird species that have adapted to farmland and are widespread in Brazil, but most struggled to identify birds that only live in the Amazon forest.

The study is the first of its kind to be carried out in the “Global South” and is significant because previous, similar studies in the US and Europe indicated that knowledge of biodiversity enhances connection with nature.

The Amazon rainforest is under threat from deforestation and climate change, and its farm-forest frontiers are suffering from intense habitat and biodiversity loss. Therefore, understanding the feelings and motivations of its farmers is vital as studies have shown that farmers who care strongly about nature are more likely to engage in conservation.

Dr Katarzyna Mikolajczak, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and lead author of the study, said: “Farmers’ decisions are critical for the survival of the Amazon and the species that live there, but their environmental motivations are rarely studied. We investigated how a form of the farmers’ ecological knowledge – the ability to recognise local bird species – related to their sense of attachment and caring about nature, known as nature connection.

“We found that farmers do not need intimate knowledge of local biodiversity to care about nature. However, at the same time, farmers might have difficulty protecting species without some knowledge – many of the farmers struggled to identify birds commonly found in the Amazon, so may fail to realise the value of forests as an irreplaceable habitat for many species.

“Our results contrast with previous similar studies that have taken place in industrialised nations in the Global North, namely the UK and the US, that found a positive correlation between knowing and caring about nature.

“This suggests that the relationship between ecological knowledge and nature connection is complex and might be context-specific, and we shouldn’t assume there is a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to encouraging nature conservation. Our findings indicate that having a knowledge of nature is not necessary in order to connect with nature.”

###

The study, which involved academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Lancaster University and the Federal University of Para in Belem, Brazil, is published in the journal People and Nature. The paper is open access and will be available from 10 February at https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10183

Media Contact
Jon Green
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10183

Tags: AgricultureAnthropologyBehaviorBiologyEcology/EnvironmentForestryPersonality/AttitudeSocial/Behavioral ScienceZoology/Veterinary Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Oxygen study enters uncharted territory

A dynamic picture of how we respond to high or low oxygen levels

December 8, 2023
Elgamal works in lab

University of Cincinnati hematology experts present research at national conference

December 8, 2023

Evolving insights in blood-based liquid biopsies for prostate cancer interrogation

December 8, 2023

Finding the most heat-resistant substances ever made

December 8, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Figure 1

    Understanding rapid tendon regeneration in newts may one day help human athletes

    85 shares
    Share 34 Tweet 21
  • Photonic chip that ‘fits together like Lego’ opens door to semiconductor industry

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • Study finds increasingly popular oral nicotine pouches do little to curb smokers’ cravings

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • SMART researchers pioneer novel microfluidic method to optimise bone marrow stem cell extraction for advanced cell therapies

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

A dynamic picture of how we respond to high or low oxygen levels

University of Cincinnati hematology experts present research at national conference

Evolving insights in blood-based liquid biopsies for prostate cancer interrogation

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 58 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In