Biodiversity Programme Advisory Group – citizen and society target indicators: summary of responses

3. Defining the target

The PAG and sub-group of NatureScot’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) have previously discussed and agreed the importance of the following target;

Target topic:

Citizens and society understanding, benefiting from and contributing to nature

• Description: Citizens and society aware of their impact on nature and of the benefits nature provides. Businesses including nature in decision making
• Justification: Addresses some of the indirect drivers of biodiversity decline, specifically popular disconnect with nature and the consequent lack of recognition of the value and importance of nature. Also critical in ensuring actions we take are grounded in the need to deliver a just transition.

The target can be split into three elements;

• Citizens and society understanding nature
• Citizens and society benefitting from nature
• Citizens and society contributing to nature

The following sub-sections broadly break down what is meant by each of these three elements and options for indicators.

3.1 Understanding nature

There are two ways in which we can conceptualise understanding nature; cognitive and intellectual understanding, and experiential understanding leading to nature connectedness.

A cognitive or intellectual approach involves building knowledge through analysing and comprehending nature through facts, data, and logical reasoning. Experiential understanding, through taking notice of nature – which involved feelings, intuition, and a sense of wonder, has been shown to build connection or a personal relationship with nature and can foster a sense of stewardship. While both have been shown to be indicators of pro-nature behaviours, nature connectedness has been shown to be a stronger predictor (Otto and Pensini, 2017; Richarson et al, 2020).

Both types of understanding are important. Intellectual understanding helps us make informed decisions and solve environmental problems, while experiential understanding and nature connectedness can motivate us to care for and protect nature. Combining both can lead to a more holistic appreciation and responsible interaction with the natural world. Cognitive and experiential knowledge are briefly explored as part of the IPBES assessment on diverse values.

3.2 Options for indicators

Self-reported cognitive understanding

There are several, already established, survey questions that look to gather insights into the publics understand of the environment or climate.

Example collection methods;

• Scotland's People and Nature Survey (SPANS) has questions regarding level of concern for wildlife and how important spending time in the outdoors is to the respondent.
• Scotland's Opinion Survey (NOS) seeks to gather information on Scots understanding of wildlife issues.
• Scotland’s Climate Survey (SCS) has a question regarding awareness of the biodiversity crisis, alongside information on Scot’s level of understanding of climate change and their emotional response to climate issues.
• Frequency of these surveys, and ability to make changes to questions, differs and is captured in section 5 below.

Considerations;

• Self-reported understanding does not reflect true understanding with many reporting reduced understanding as they learn more about a subject.
• These questions tend to be agnostic as to whether they refer to land or sea.
• There would be an exercise to decern the most appropriate questions noting the various surveys have different collection methods, timeframes, and budget constraints.

Cognitive understanding via education and skills

Collective societal understanding could also be judged in terms of delivery of education programmes and qualifications relevant to building understanding of nature and land/sea use. This may include the number of nature-related courses (eg. via colleges, universities and apprenticeships), number of participants and qualifiers, and number of graduates going on to work in sector. Potential courses could span biology and geography through to horticulture and game and wildlife management.

Example collection methods;

Data is collected for colleges, universities, including under- and post-graduate study, and Apprenticeships and can be broken down by course, number of enrollers, those who qualify, the providers, part time vs full time, and can be disaggregated by characteristics. We can also look at long term earnings (1-10 years) from those qualified from the courses.

Considerations;

• This data provides total numbers in Scotland rather than a sample. For universities, we can also look at what work graduates go into via occupational groups, and their earnings, using a sample survey.
• There is a likelihood of duplication as many apprenticeships study at college or university.
• As the groupings are broad, there would be a bit of work needed to comb through courses to ensure we are considering those that do reflect an understanding of nature. Once established however, annual updates are straightforward.

Self-reported experiential understanding / connectedness with nature

As well as cognitive understanding, understanding nature can be consider in respect of emotional understanding or connection to nature. Nature connectedness is a robust, psychological construct which describes the relationship between an individual and nature. It explores our emotional attachment and the extent we believe we are a part of nature. This influences how we respond emotionally to nature and therefore influences our attitudes and behaviour towards it.

It should be noted that contact with nature (i.e. the amount of time we spend in nature) is not the same as nature connectedness. Nature connectedness is linked much more closely to pro-environmental and pro-nature conservation behaviours, together pro-nature behaviours, and has shown to be a suitable indicator with stronger nature connectedness increasingly likelihood of pro-nature behaviour.

Example collection methods;

There are several established nature connectedness indicators suitable for different ages, group sizes, methodologies, etc. In 2021, NatureScot conducted a review of existing nature connectedness indicators to inform SPANS, leading to the Nature Connection Index (NCI) used in the 2022-24 SPANS.

Considerations;

A contributing factor to this was that Natural England has previously used the NCI in their national survey ‘Monitor of Engagement with Natural Environment Survey’, and therefore use in Scotland would allow for comparisons and a wider UK understanding. However, recent discussions with NatureScot have suggested that Natural England have been questioning the statistical significance of the index and are considering replacing it with a different measure for nature connectedness, such as the Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS).

Whether NatureScot continues to use the NCI or looks to replace it with another, there is a strong argument for introducing a robust indicator regarding nature connectedness to be used for this target.

3.3 Benefitting from nature

Ecosystem Services are the direct and indirect contributions ecosystems (also known as natural capital) provide for human wellbeing and quality of life. These services provided by ecosystems lead to benefits received by humans in the form of security, goods and materials, health and wellbeing. The Natural Capital Approach has led to a number of methods to measure various ecosystem services, including the Natural Capital Asset Index, delivered by NatureScot, which is a current indicator of Economy within the National Performance Framework. It is felt that this element will be captured in other targets/indicators, such as the ecosystem health target, and therefore does not need to be consider under this target.

However, we wish to examine how much people understand and value the benefits they receive from nature.

3.4 Options for indicators

Understanding the benefits received by ecosystem services

It was recommended by PAG that the established indicators of access and number of visits to the outdoors, collected through the Scottish Household Survey (SHS), best reflect the theme of benefiting from nature.

Like self-reported cognitive understanding, there are several questions that are asked in sample surveys that can indicate someone’s understanding of the benefits they receive from nature.

Example collection methods;

• Access to nature and number of visits to the outdoors are already established indicators for the National Performance Framework
• SPANS offers a number of questions that focus on the types of activities people do when visiting the outdoors, opinion questions on the perceived health and wellbeing benefits on these visits, satisfaction with local greenspace and more.

Considerations;

• Questions tend to cover/provide examples of both land and sea-based activities.
• See the same considerations above regarding time and budget constraints.

3.5 Contributing to nature

Through understanding their impact on, and recognising the value of, nature, people give back through pro-nature behaviours. Pro-nature behaviour can be split into two;

• pro-environmental behaviour which includes actions that are indirectly good for nature with a focus on reducing carbon footprint and consumption – these are often household activities such as recycling and using green energy, and
• pro-nature conservation behaviour which includes actions that are directly good for nature, often requiring more time and effort such as volunteering for a conservation charity, litter picking and planting pollinator friendly plants.

3.6 Options for indicators

Self-reported pro-nature behaviours

There are already established ways to gain an understanding of pro-nature behaviours through self-reported survey answers.

Example collection methods;

• SCS includes questions regarding pro-environmental behaviours, as these tend to be seen as behaviours that reduce people's impact on climate change, but does not necessarily cover pro-nature behaviours.
• SPANS offers questions that ask about the types of pro-nature behaviour, such as volunteering or supporting conservation organisations.