Gardening for wildlife: A mixed-methods exploration of the factors underlying engagement in wildlife-friendly gardening

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1. Private domestic gardens have immense potential to contribute to urban biodi-versity conservation. However, they are divided into small private plots and man-aged individually by garden owners. Therefore, engagement in wildlife-friendly gardening (WFG), which entails alternative management and design choices, re-lies on the individual willingness of each garden owner.
2. Using an online survey and qualitative walking interviews with garden owners, our study explores individual internal and external factors underlying engage-ment in WFG. We interpret and reflect on our findings in the context of gardening as a relational practice between people and nature.
3. Our findings suggest that motivations for gardening play a central role in how internal and external factors promote or impede WFG. For example, motivations towards organic gardening and learning from nature promote WFG, whereas per-sonal and family care and well- being motivations seem to impede it.
4. The perceived and actual garden area, as well as self- reported insufficient knowl-edge and social norms, covary the most with engagement in WFG. Engagement in WFG relates to people's relationships with nature, as embodied in social norms of community acceptance and cohesion, and care and respect for nature and others.
5. Future research into pro-environmental behaviours in gardens should adopt more relational approaches that go beyond the individual self and take better account of feedback between individual actions and social relations.
Original languageEnglish
Article number808-825
JournalPeople and Nature
Volume5
Issue number2
ISSN2575-8314
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Science - pro-enviornmental behaviour, relational values, socio-ecological systems, Stakeholder engagement, Urban ecology, wildlife-friendly gardening

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