The aim of the study was to determine the effects of childhood experience with nature on affective attitude toward problem-causing wildlife and to determine if experience affects tolerance directly or indirectly via attitude.
Over 1000 urban and suburban residents in Japan completed a web-based questionnaire about their childhood experiences with nature and their current attitudes about and tolerance for hornets and wild boar – both common problem-causing animals in urban and suburban areas of Japan. Respondents used a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very often) to record the frequency with which they used green spaces and were involved in nature-related activities before the age of 12. They also used a 5-point scale to rate the level of their current affective attitude toward hornets and wild boar. This attitude scale ranged from 1 (dislike) to 5 (like), with 3 as a neutral point.
Respondents' tolerance toward problem-causing wildlife was based on the extent to which they accepted wildlife management actions entailing various levels of control over hornets and wild boar. Their responses were based on six different scenarios reflecting actual problem situations in Japan. For each scenario, five possible management strategies were listed, from doing nothing to eliminating the animal. Respondents' choices for level of tolerance for each management strategy was based on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (totally unacceptable) to 5 (totally acceptable).
The researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify relationships among variables. For this study, the model used sociodemographic factors and childhood nature experience as explanatory variables, affective attitude toward the problem-causing animals as a mediator, and tolerance as a response variable. Respondents' tolerance toward hornets and boars was low, with over 60% saying they favored the removal of hornets and wild boar from nearby green spaces, even when the animals had not caused any damage. Females and elderly respondents had lower tolerance than other groups. In scenarios where the animals have not caused any problems, childhood experience with nature had a greater influence on tolerance than did sociodemographic factors. Childhood experience, however, had no significant direct effect on tolerance when the wildlife caused problems, although it had a significant indirect effect via attitude.
These findings highlight the importance of increasing opportunities for urban children to interact with nature, as childhood experience with nature remains influential on their attitudes toward and tolerance for problem-causing wildlife later in life. These attitudes and tolerance levels, in turn, play a role in the public's support of conservation programs.
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