Wintering Waterbirds and Recreationists in Natural Areas: A Sociological Approach to the Awareness of Bird Disturbance

• Published in: Environmental management (New York) Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 780 - 791
• Main Authors: Le Corre, Nicolas, Peuziat, Ingrid, Brigand, Louis, Gélinaud, Guillaume, Meur-Férec, Catherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Animal populations; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aquatic birds; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Bird impact; Bird migration; Bird populations; Birds; Coastal; Conservation of Natural Resources; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Disturbances; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Education; Energy consumption; Environment; Environment management; Environmental impact; Environmental Management; Forestry Management; France; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geography; Human; Human influences; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Local population; Middle Aged; Nature; Nature Conservation; Perception; Perceptions; Public Opinion; Public schools; Recreation; Socioeconomic Factors; Sociology; User groups; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Wildlife conservation; Young Adult; France; Perception; Recreational activities; Wintering waterbird; Awareness; Natural areas; Bird disturbance; Waterfowl; Overwintering; Perturbation; Environmental management; Recreational activity; Vertebrata; Natural environment; Aves
• ISSN: 0364-152X; 1432-1009
• DOI: 10.1007/s00267-013-0118-5

Disturbance to wintering birds by human recreational activities has become a major concern for managers of many natural areas. Few studies have examined how recreationists perceive their effects on birds, although this impacts their behavior on natural areas. We surveyed 312 users on two coastal ornithological sites in Brittany, France, to investigate their perception of the effects of human activities on wintering birds. The results show that the awareness of environmental issues and knowledge of bird disturbance depends on the socioeconomic characteristics of each user group, both between the two sites and within each site. Results also indicate that, whatever the site and the user group, the vast majority of the respondents (77.6 %) believed that their own presence had no adverse effects on the local bird population. Various arguments were put forward to justify the users’ own harmlessness. Objective information on recreationists’ awareness of environmental issues, and particularly on their own impact on birds, is important to guide managers in their choice of the most appropriate visitor educational programs. We recommend developing global but also specific educational information for each type of user to raise awareness of their own impact on birds.