“Sem morcego, não tem pequi”: percepção e conhecimento sobre os serviços ecossistêmicos para a conservação do Cerrado

Abstract

Landowners are key stakeholders in discussions of biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services (ESs) in Brazil, since 53.0% of native vegetation is preserved on private areas. The aim of this study was to understand whether Brazilian landowners perceive public and private protected areas of the Cerrado biome as sources of ESs. The following hypotheses were tested in this thesis: i. ES perception is a function of personal characteristics (age, gender, formal education) and farm descriptors (size and type); ii) the intention to restore areas on the properties is influenced by attitude toward a behavior and perceived behavior control (Theory of Planned Behavior constructs), and ES perception directly impacts attitude and, indirectly impacts the evaluated intention; iii) participation in educational activities, focusing on demonstrating how ESs benefit rural activities, positively affects the perception of public and private protected areas. According to the results, landowners perceived native areas as sources of ESs, and those with more years of formal education perceived pollination and pest control better. The intention to restore areas on properties was affected by attitude and, indirectly, by ES perception. Landowners who participated in an educational activity perceived more pollination and increased their global perception of ESs. The ES framework has a pedagogical dimension that promotes the comprehension of how ecological processes rendered by native biodiversity impact rural activities and well-being. The design of conservation strategies needs to take landowners’ perception into account and to promote educational events in order to integrate the ESs into local ecological knowledge.