A research group led by Tetsuro Hosaka, a specially appointed associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University (Shinya Numata Laboratory, Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences), found that people who experience more nature in their childhood can be the target of discomfort and threats. It was clarified that it is highly receptive to living organisms.
As interest in biodiversity grows internationally, conservation and restoration are important issues in urban planning as well.Biodiversity brings many benefits to people, but it is not always comfortable for urban dwellers who have few opportunities to interact with nature.
In January 2016, the research group conducted a questionnaire survey of 1 men and women (ages 1,030-20) living in the Tokyo metropolitan area.Taking hornets and wild boars as examples of wildlife that can cause problems, we set multiple damage scenarios of different severity and asked about the acceptable degree of administrative intervention.At the same time, we asked about the amount of nature experience in childhood and investigated the correlation with wildlife acceptability.
As a result, more than 70% of the residents answered that they would not accept the situation where the government did not exterminate wasps and wild boars that live in parks and green areas, regardless of the magnitude of the damage.It was revealed that these wildlife have low receptivity to urban residents and high dependence on government.
On the other hand, in the absence of serious damage, it was found that the amount of nature experience in early childhood is a factor that increases the receptivity to wildlife.
The research group pointed out that the friction caused by wildlife should be considered as a potential cost when promoting measures to promote biodiversity in urban areas.In addition to restoring the natural experience of urban residents in their childhood, it is necessary to raise awareness about wildlife, which tends to be disliked, and to change the perceptions of the residents.
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Effects of childhood experience with nature on tolerance of urban residents toward hornets and wild boars in Japan (English)
