Community Attitudes

Methods

Key actors in local communities in five core areas of the Greater Côa Valley were surveyed about their attitudes towards the proposed rewilding strategy. Key actors were defined as individuals with main decision-making capacity or interest in the area and those who influence management in a way that can affect project objectives and outcomes. They including livestock breeders, landowners, hunting managers, local authority employees, conservation practitioners and nature activity promoters.

Baseline surveys were carried out in summer 2019, 2020 and 2021. Key actors were identified and were first contacted by email or telephone, in order to inform them about the scope and objectives of the survey. In addition, a standard letter with information about the study and conditions of confidentiality and anonymity was provided, allowing interviewees to give informed consent. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the interviewer adapting the language to the profile of the interviewee, adopting a position of “no judgement” and introducing more questions if necessary, to better understand themes and answers received. The survey contained open and closed questions as well as quantitative questions with Likert scales. These were supported with unlabelled image cards to address memory of experiences of encounters with wolf and roe deer, and elicit opinions about rewilding landscape features, species, and types of management.

Examples of image cards used in interviews. Photo: Rewilding Portugal.

In the baseline survey, 67 interviews were carried out across five profile types and five project areas. The mean age of interviewees was 55 and 90% people interviewed were men, since in the region, most people in the decision-making and professional roles selected for interview are men. Most interviewees had lived in the Greater Côa Valley for much of their life (mean period lived in the region was 42 years), and only four interviewees did not live in the region.

Content data analysis was used to codify categories using ATLAS.ti, an AI-based qualitative data analysis tool, to understand the overall social context, discourses and perceptions. An attitude index towards the existence of wolves was computed for each interviewee by averaging the responses to five questions using a 5-point Likert scale (from 1= “totally disagree” to 5 = “totally agree”).

In the baseline survey, 67 interviews were carried out across five profile types and five project areas. The mean age of interviewees was 55 and 90% people interviewed were men, since in the region, most people in the decision-making and professional roles selected for interview are men. Most interviewees had lived in the Greater Côa Valley for much of their life (mean period lived in the region was 42 years), and only four interviewees did not live in the region.

This data provides a baseline which can be compared with data collected in future years to assess long-term changes in community attitudes.

Results

Attitudes to wolves: There was a strong division in attitudes towards wolves, with 42% of interviewees saying that wolves cannot live freely in the Greater Côa Valley and 49% stating that they believe this is possible. Using an open question revealed more complex attitudes about the conditions interviewees thought were needed to allow wolves to live in the region (Fig. 1).

When asked to give advantages and disadvantages to the presence of wolves in the Greater Côa Valley, only 40% named at least one advantage and most of these also listed disadvantages. The most commonly mentioned advantages relate to the role of wolves in controlling prey and mesocarnivores and keeping balance in the ecosystem (16-18% interviewees). The most commonly mentioned disadvantage of the presence of wolves was attacks on livestock (75% interviewees). As expected, nature activity promoters had the most positive attitudes towards wolf presence, and livestock breeders the most negative (Fig. 2).

Attitudes to deer: The vast majority (93%) of interviewees were positive about the presence of roe deer in the Greater Côa Valley. The most frequently mentioned advantages of roe deer were that people liked to see them (27% interviewees) and they could be hunted (18% interviewees); the most commonly mentioned disadvantage was damage to trees and crops (52% interviewees).

Attitudes to rewilding: Most of the key actors interviewed associated a lack of human intervention in the landscape with abandonment (Fig. 3). For most interviewees, agricultural landscapes were associated with memories or family stories, and a time when villages had more inhabitants and a stronger social life. The idea of these previously agricultural lands no longer being used by humans was associated with feelings of sadness and abandonment. The development of shrubs was seen as a negative feature, reducing land available to people and increasing fire risk. Livestock breeders and hunters in particular both viewed an increase in shrubs as negative or harmful. Unexpectedly, nature activity promoters did not show significantly more positive attitudes towards rewilding than other profiles. In contrast, interviewees described positive feelings associated with their own experience of natural areas. Living in those areas and experiencing nature is an intrinsic part of their lives. However, the concept of creating new areas with the purpose of experiencing nature was alien and was not felt to either concern or benefit them.

Knowledge of project: 48% of interviewees knew or had heard something of the rewilding project in the region. The activities most commonly associated with the project were buying land and putting animals on it (Fig. 4).

Interpretation

Changing attitudes towards wildlife and rewilding are gradual processes. Therefore, the data presented here is intended as a baseline, which can then be followed up in future years once more impacts of the project have become evident, in order to assess longer-term attitude shifts within local communities.