Farmers' attitudes and behaviour towards the natural environment : a New Zealand case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2010
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Massey University
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Abstract
Scholars from the natural and social sciences have sounded the alarm regarding
the future of our productivist society, calling for a change in worldview towards our
relationship with the environment. Agriculture rests at the centre of such an issue.
Relying on natural resources, it fulfils our basic need for food, yet has caused great
damage to this same environment it depends on. Sustainability of farming lies
increasingly today in farmers’ ability to generate and export ecologically sound
products, while remaining competitive on the international market. The New Zealand
farming population represents a particularly good case study. New Zealand’s short
human history is associated with one of the highest rates of natural habitat destruction,
enabling the country to develop a strong agricultural sector. Today, due to a lack of a
comprehensive national legislation, management of native ecosystems on private land
depends mainly on private owners’ goodwill.
The first of the four objectives of the present research was to assess the general
and specific environmental attitudes of farmers in New Zealand. Farmers’ general
attitudes towards the natural environment were measured using the New Ecological
Paradigm (NEP) scale and the Environmental Motives scale (EMS). Farmers’ specific
attitudes towards New Zealand native forest were assessed using the tripartite model of
attitude composed of affective, cognitive and conative dimensions. The second
objective was to compare the attitudes and context affecting the pro-environmental
attitudes of farmers with and without native forest on their farm. The third objective was
to assess the pro-environmental attitude-behaviour relationship in farmers with native
forest. Finally, the fourth objective was to investigate the context affecting the
relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour in farmers with native
forest.
It was found that farmers with and without native forest responded to different
models of attitude towards native forest. The attitudes of farmers without forest were
more cognitively based than those of farmers with forest. Farmers without forest tended
to distinguish between native forest on and off the farm, while farmers with forest
tended to hold more holistic environmental attitudes. Farmers’ environmental attitudes
predicted their behaviour towards their native forest fragments to a similar extent to that
usually found in the literature. Direct experience with nature, interactions with one’s
family and objective and subjective knowledge were instrumental in predicting the
environmental attitudes of all groups of farmers and the behaviour of farmers with
native forest.
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Keywords
Farming and environment, Agriculture and environment, Forest conservation, Natural resources