Private Land in Conservation: WHY?

1. Identifying and Analysing Factors Influencing Private Landowners’ Attitude towards Biodiversity Conservation: • Where are the Conservation Opportunities? • *Sristi Kamal, PhD 1st Year, Nature Conservation and Environmental Education Research Team • Private Land in Conservation: WHY? • Only fraction of global biodiversity contained in protected areas: they cannot be the only functional unit of in-situ biodiversity • Connectivity between protected areas through private lands • In Poland, 19.8% of land designated as Natura 2000 site: not all of it will lie on public land • Need to move from preservationist to conservationist approach in biodiversity: understand the importance of human dimension in biodiversity conservation ..but.. • Issues of Conflict • Restricting development on private land designated as protected areas: is this violation of property rights of private landowners • The opportunity cost of conservation: who pays? • Differentiating “conservation opportunity” from “conservation priority” • Research Questions to be Addressed • Stakeholders perspective on the importance of private land in biodiversity conservation • What are the challenges in integrating private land into conservation strategies, and what are their causes? • What innovative strategies (including policy incentives) are being developed globally to address the issue of private land conservation? • Is there any trend between the expressed attitudes of landowners towards conservation, and their socio-demographic, economic and structural characteristics? Acknowledgement: This PhD studyis co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund