South African perspective on conservation behaviour - a programme description

Abstract

In South Africa there is a serious lack of understanding of the relationship between human behaviour and environmental conservation. A multidisciplinary field of study is described dealing with the causes and effects of people's attitudes and behaviour, relative to their use of the natural environment. A conceptual framework is proposed for determining research priorities in this new field of study. The framework describes four components, namely the setting of goals, the accumulation of baseline data (inventory and survey), analytical research (establishing cause and effect relationships) and a re-evaluation or monitoring component. Responses are invited from researchers in a wide variety of scientific and social disciplines in order to develop the programme and define research priorities.