Gender Differences in Environmental Concern and Perception

Abstract

The end of the twentieth century was characterized by a surge of interest in the impact of gender on environmental politics. Many people assert that women have a special relationship with the environment, leading to a link being assumed between women and environmental issuses in development planning. This article analyzes this assertion cross-culturally and, using field data from both North America and the global South as illustration, engages with a long-standing set of debates concerning the relationship between agency, structure, knowledge, and power and the ways in which these relationships have been opera-tionalized and conceptualized.     

Rainfall Variability in Murang'a District, Kenya: Meteorological Data and Farmers' Perception

This study examines meteorological data and farmers' perception of rainfall in the Central Highlands of Kenya. Rainfall data from five meteorological stations during the period from 1947 to 1996 were analysed on an annual and a monthly basis. Daily data exist from 1957 and analyses from 1957 to 1996 were done on a daily basis. Discussions were held with 60 farmers about rainfall and its variation. Ten of these farmers were interviewed with a questionnaire about rainfall. Analysing annual precipitation and rain periods gave no clear trends over the study period. Results from analysing the growing seasons for maize, the main annual crop, and periods during which maize plants are sensitive to drought showed decreasing trends in rainfall amounts for the study period. Results from the interviews indicate that most of the farmers think rainfall has decreased over the last 40 years. Farmers'perceptions of rainfall are related to periods when the main food and annual crop require water and not to the periods scientists often analyse, i.e. annual and rain periods. More research and better advice from agricultural extension workers to farmers are necessary to enable this area to sustain itself in sufficient food production if the decreasing trends during the growing seasons and drought-sensitive periods continue.     

Environmental Perception,Sense of Place,and Residence Time in the Okavango Delta,Botswana

Integral to the geographic discipline are cross-cultural analyses, many of which use languages outside of the researcher’s own. There are few analyses, however, that address issues of translation that are inherently geographic; namely, that language is understood as a manifestation of place and culture. This article argues that the results of environmental interviews must be interpreted through a lens that evaluates how the translation of a word, or even a concept, is understood differentially based on one’s sense of place. Interviews were conducted in three of the Etsha villages situated in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, comparing perceptions of changes in both the local area and the flooding regime. Findings show qualitatively and quantitatively how residents perceive environmental change in light of their residential histories and their production of place. These results highlight that environmental change in an area is perceived in the context of previous residences, including the length of time spent in residence and the environmental characterization of that place. The process of interviewing regarding such change, especially when translation is necessary, should therefore proceed by incorporating inquiries about previous residences and the environments of those areas to correctly contextualize environmental change in a particular area.     

海滨旅游地居民对旅游影响的感知--海南省海口市及三亚市实证研究

旅游影响研究是旅游地理的重要研究内容，旅游地居民对旅游影响的感知是研究旅游影响性质及程度的重要途径。以海南省海口市和三亚市为例，在实地调研的基础上，分析了海滨旅游地居民对旅游的经济、社会文化、环境影响的感知程度及其对旅游业的态度，比较了不同人口学特征及与旅游业关系密切程度不同的居民对旅游影响的感知和对旅游业态度的差异。     

Climate Change,Bushfire Risk,and Environmental Values: Examining a Potential Risk Perception Threshold in Peri-Urban South Australia

Striking a balance between the management of environmental risks and values is a challenge for decision-makers. If people perceive that environmental risks are increasing they may be willing to discount local values to manage those risks, so the identification of thresholds in risk perception in relation to specific behaviors could help to avoid policy failures. The complex relationships between perceptions of climate change and bushfire risks, environmental values and support for actions to mitigate local risks are presented for peri-urban regions in South Australia. The results of a household survey (N=988) suggest that a threshold of risk perception in relation to climate change and bushfire management has not been exceeded and people are broadly supportive of balanced management interventions. A minority of people still do not perceive that climate change is increasing bushfire risk, and are supportive of risk mitigation interventions even at the expense of local biodiversity. However, a larger group believe that climate change is a driver of bushfire risk, yet are still more likely to prioritize ecological values and are unwilling to discount those values for risk mitigation. Targeted communication could assist different groups to respond to gaps in knowledge and action to facilitate effective, differentiated interventions within forested landscapes on the margins of urban areas.     

Elements and Element Components of the Rural Landscape in Linpan of Western Sichuan in Relation to Perception,Preference and Stress Recovery

Natural environments contribute to people’s perception, preference and health restoration. Many researchers have focused either on the positive effects of overall rural environments on stress recovery or concentrated on the perception and preference aspects of the rural landscape, but few have integrated perception, preference and stress recovery simultaneously. This paper developed a framework which includes 11 elements and 38 element components related to Linpan, China, and distributed it online as part of a survey. As a result, a total of 324 valid questionnaires were collected. The questionnaire included demographic details, perception and preference degree for Linpan, as well as self-estimations of stress recovery. Stepwise multiple linear regression was employed, and revealed 16 significant predictors for the perception, preference and stress recovery in rural environments. In terms of elements, atmosphere and imagery were the two elements that could be best perceived, while woodland, farmland, water, residence and road were the five most important elements for the preference. Moreover, seven elements were also identified as significant predictors for stress recovery. Among the element components, tranquility as well as road and water proximity were the two significant predictors for perception, while wide visibility as well as woodland and residence blending contributed significantly to stress recovery. The five element components of woodland interior, vegetable field, stream, courtyard space and branch road each had a significantly predictive ability for preference and stress recovery. These findings extend the understanding of the perception, preference and restorative properties of rural environments through the combination of elements and element components in Linpan of Western Sichuan, helping to improve the quality and characteristics of rural external and internal environments and create health-promoting environments.     

家庭禀赋、环境感知与农民沙化土地治理满意度——基于甘肃省14县市农户调查数据

以甘肃省606份农户调查数据为研究样本,采用有序Logit模型分析了家庭禀赋、环境感知及控制变量对农民沙化土地治理满意度的影响。结果表明：农民对沙化土地治理持较为满意态度,其中参与治理的实验组农民沙化土地治理满意度明显高于未参与治理的对照组农民,这一结论通过对比回归得到印证。实验组农民沙化土地治理满意度受政府补贴和社会保障的影响大,家庭禀赋与对照组农民差异没有通过显著检验。环境感知与农民沙化土地治理满意度具有高度相关性,但实验组农民更关注周边植被覆盖度变化,对照组农民更关注绿洲保护功能。家庭禀赋、环境感知对农民沙化土地治理满意度的影响存在性别、教育程度、家庭结构的差异。沙化土地保护政策不应仅局限于沙化土地逆转,更应注重基于农民满意度的家庭福利改善。     

湖区农户对湿地资源和环境的感知研究——以安徽省安庆沿江湖群为例

湿地具有强大的环境功能和生态效益,在维持地球表面生态平衡中起着极为重要的作用。目前湿地研究是学术界关注的热点之一,成果颇丰,但从湖区农户对湿地资源与环境感知角度进行的研究国内尚不多见。以安庆沿江湖群为例,根据对湖区农户的实地问卷调查,分析湖区农户对湿地资源和环境的感知状况,得出一些基本认识,在此基础上提出湿地资源和环境可持续发展的建议与对策。     

粤港澳大学生的美展感知及地方感影响差异：基于多群组结构方程模型分析

采用Beerli和Martin等编制的旅游体验及地方感研究量表,以问卷调查数据为基础,通过构建多群组结构方程模型对粤港澳大学生游客的美展感知与地方感影响进行了研究。结果表明：① 大学生游客对美展的感知及粤港澳地方感的产生受到5个变量维度的影响：认知形象、旅游涉入、社会联系、地方认同与地方依恋;② 大学生游客对美展的认知形象、旅游涉入和社会联系都对粤港澳地方认同具有显著影响;大学生游客对美展的旅游涉入、社会联系及粤港澳地方认同都对粤港澳地方依恋也具有显著影响,而认知形象对粤港澳地方依恋具有显著影响的研究假设未获支持;③ 粤港澳与非粤港澳两个大学生群体在旅游涉入与粤港澳地方依恋、地方认同与粤港澳地方依恋的关系中都存在显著差异。研究结果为验证艺术旅游地在提升游客地方感中发挥作用提供理论依据。