Definition of Conservation Psychology
Conservation psychology is the scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world.
Conservation psychology is an applied field that uses psychological principles, theories, or methods to understand and solve issues related to human aspects of conservation.
In addition to being a field of study, conservation psychology is also the actual network of researchers and practitioners who work together to understand and promote a sustainable and harmonious relationship between people and the natural environment. One way to organize research areas in Conservation Psychology is according to two broad outcome areas:
- How people behave toward nature (with the goal of creating durable behavior change at multiple levels and sustainable relationships), and/or
- How people care about/value nature (with the goal of creating harmonious relationships and an environmental ethic)
Further discussions about the term “conservation psychology” itself and debates about what should be included are presented in a special issue of the Population and Environmental Psychology Bulletin (Brook 2001; Myers 2001; Reser 2001) and a special issue of Human Ecology Review (Saunders and Myers 2003).
History of Conservation Psychology
The past two decades have seen a growing interest in using psychological frameworks to understand and promote environmental experiences and actions. Although a number of psychologists are currently working in areas related to conservation, it appears that many more initiatives could benefit from the perspective and research that psychologists provide.
Zoos and aquariums offer one interesting setting for psychologists since they serve a large portion of the American public. Most of these organizations now want to measure if they are having an impact on the public’s understanding, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward animals and their conservation. In seeking answers to such questions, Brookfield Zoo, a large zoo in the suburbs of Chicago, began to systematically invite psychologists and other social scientists to a series of think tanks and workshops.
Teams of researchers and practitioners were asked to review what was known about topics such as how caring relationships with the natural world develop or how to inspire people to adopt new conservation behaviors. Those insights were then applied to the development of new exhibits and programs, which were then evaluated for their effectiveness. Along the way, the need for additional basic research became clear and problem-based studies were initiated, using zoos and aquariums as laboratories. In the process, a critical mass of experts began to form and productive collaborations developed. It became useful to describe these mission-driven studies as “conservation psychology”, inspired in part by the model of conservation biology (see Saunders and Myers 2001).
Although zoos and aquariums have been one focal point for conservation psychology studies, there are many other possible partners. Ideas were explored at the 8th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management held in June 2000 at Western Washington University. Myers and Saunders organized a series of sessions under the general theme of Conservation Psychology. Over 35 papers addressed a variety of topics: a) sense of self/sense of place; b) perceptions of the environment; c) environmental experience and development; d) relational caring/ethic of care; e) cultural aspects of caring/cultural constructions of nature; f) meanings and values of nature; g) caring for nature/conservation behaviors. Participants also discussed how to build a broader professional identity for psychological research about conservation issues. Abstracts and notes from these sessions are posted on http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~gmyers/cp/, a website created by Gene Myers.
Conversations about conservation psychology continued at the American Psychological Association meeting in August 2000, and on the conservation psychology listserv that was formed in September 2000. The general feeling from all these discussions was that despite the increasing number of people studying the connections between psychology and conservation issues, there was no cohesive community nor a clear profession conservation-oriented identity. While most people agreed that some term was needed to encompass social science research that is oriented toward environmental sustainability, there was lively debate over whether a new field was needed, how broad this new field should be, and what this new field should be called (see Brook 2001; Myers 2001; and Reser 2001).
At the same time, several special issue journals were appearing that brought together many of the leading voices for psychological approaches to conservation (e.g., the May 2000 edition of American Psychologist about environmental sustainability with articles by Oskamp, Howard, Winter, Stern and McKenzie-Mohr; the fall 2000 Journal of Social Issues about promoting environmentalism edited by Zelezny and Schultz). There was a conservation psychology session at the 2002 annual convention of the American Psychological Association, along with continued efforts to make the APA a greener organization through changes to its own operations. Since 2000, a number of books about the psychology of people-nature relationships have been written.
In May 2002, Brookfield Zoo invited a group of 65 leaders from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, philosophy, environmental education, and conservation biology to the country’s first Conservation Psychology conference. Supported by a grant from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation, researchers and practitioners gathered to discuss different approaches to real-world conservation initiatives, and to explore ideas for creating stronger links between the social sciences and desired conservation outcomes. The conference was organized around four problem areas. Each panel consisted of problem advocates and researchers. The problem advocates were asked to describe certain conservation initiatives in need of social science research, and the researchers provided thoughts about how their research perspective could inform those practical issues. Then the discussion was opened up to the entire invited audience.
The first panel was about connections to animals. Orienting questions included: How do caring relationships with the natural world develop? How might caring about animals lead to caring about the environment in general? The problem advocates focused on how to document the ways zoos and aquariums contribute toward developing a caring attitude towards animals. This is part of a larger effort by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums called the Multi-Institutional Research Project (MIRP). The researchers offered various ideas from the human-animal literature that would be helpful for creating more effective educational and interpretive programs, and for evaluating their success.
The second panel was about connections to place. Discussions started around questions like: How can urban settings help their populations celebrate local biodiversity and develop a sense of regional pride? What techniques would be helpful to encourage people to get involved with stewardship activities and conservation behaviors at the community level? The problem advocates focused on the communication goals of Chicago Wilderness , a collaboration of public and private organizations working to protect and manage natural plant and animal communities of the Chicago metropolitan area. The researchers offered various ideas ranging from social marketing techniques to what we know about creating a place-based environmental identity in an urbanizing world.
The third panel was about encouraging environmentally-friendly behavior. Questions included: How do we choose among the array of theoretical models and practical approaches for encouraging behavior change? How do we select the appropriate level of analysis? For example, should we encourage changes in the highest impact individual behaviors, persuade people to desire a “simple lifestyle”, or build support for things like restructuring the tax code? The Center for a New American Dream helped focus the discussion on how to encourage the American public to consume responsibly. The researchers explored which approaches might be most effective and why.
The fourth panel was about values related to the environment. The panelists considered questions like: How can we create values-based communications that address different types of environmental concern? How do we build public support and influence national policy, especially under challenging political circumstances? How can we change the way that Americans talk about and value their relationship to nature? The problem advocates focused on efforts by the Biodiversity Project, a group that advocates for biodiversity through research-based strategic communication campaigns. The discussion explored various value systems that underlie environmental concern and how to measure them.
These four discussion topics provided the themes for the main articles in a special issue of Human Ecology Review. Within each paper is a sidebar that provides information about the work of the organization or group that played the role of problem advocate during the conference panel. This issue also contains a Forum target article by Saunders that provides a definition of conservation psychology for consideration. It has been helpful to compare Conservation Psychology with how Conservation Biology was conceptualized.
Conservation biology and conservation psychology are both synthetic fields that mobilize contributions from other fields and subdisciplines toward conservation-related missions.
The Forum article was sent to 35 colleagues in related fields, representing a diversity of backgrounds. Of those, 17 agreed to write a short commentary with suggestions for how to broaden or deepen the idea of conservation psychology. There are undoubtedly many other viewpoints relevant to the future of this field that are yet to be uncovered and are very welcome.
Interest in Conservation Psychology has been building ever since this conference. Notable achievements include: 1) the special issue of Human Ecology Review (2003) that is entirely devoted to CP (see http://www.humanecologyreview.org/102.htm), 2) this website which is designed identify many of the key resources and researchers in the field and which will continue to evolve, 3) an online manual of resources for teaching psychology for sustainability (http://www.teachgreenpsych.com) created by Britain Scott and Susan Koger, 4) an increasing number of conservation psychology sessions appearing at conferences such as the American Psychological Association, the Society for Human Ecology, the International Symposium for Society and Natural Resources Management, the Society for Conservation Biology, and the Zoological Society of London’s international symposium, and 5) more collaborative projects emerging between faculty or graduate students and conservation organizations such as zoos.