Exploration of municipal employees’ attitudes towards the creation of new nature reserves : A case study of Ulricehamn

Sammanfattning

Biodiversity loss and declining human-nature interactions represent key challenges within sustainability science, which places increasing importance on protected areas such as nature reserves. In Sweden, municipalities have the authority to establish nature reserves for both biodiversity conservation and outdoor recreation. However, the municipality of Ulricehamn has not initiated any local reserves. There is a gap in understanding regarding how such measures are perceived within municipal organisations. This study examines municipal employees’ attitudes toward the establishment of two potential nature reserves in Ulricehamn: Brunnsnäs (biodiversity-focused) and Lassalyckan (recreation-focused). It further investigates how connectedness with nature and time spent in nature relate to these attitudes. Drawing on Value Belief Norm theory and environmental psychology, the study tests two hypotheses concerning the influence of psychological and experiential factors on support for different types of reserves. Data was collected through an online survey distributed to all municipal employees (2807 individuals) and resulted in 577 completed responses. The analysis combines descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and logistic regression. The results show strong overall support for both reserves, with average scores above 8 on a 1-10 scale. Connectedness with nature is positively associated with attitudes toward the biodiversity-focused reserve, supporting Hypothesis 1. In contrast, no significant relationship is found between time spent in nature and attitudes toward the recreation-focused reserve, leading to the rejection of Hypothesis 2. The findings indicate that support for biodiversity-focused reserves is primarily value-based and linked to psychological identification with nature, whereas support for recreation-focused reserves is shaped more by perceived consequences for access and use. This challenges assumptions that experiential engagement with nature directly translates into support for conservation. The study contributes to a more differentiated understanding of environmental attitudes by demonstrating that both the purpose of conservation and individual-level factors shape support. It also highlights the importance of perceived impacts of conservation measures, particularly in local governance contexts.