- Title
- Knowledge, perceptions and willingness to control designated invasive tree species in urban household gardens in South Africa
- Creator
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Shackleton, Ross T
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180445
- Identifier
- vital:43389
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1104-7"
- Description
- Many biological invasions result in negative impacts on the environment and human livelihoods, but simultaneously some also provide benefits that are valued differently by various stakeholders. To inform policy and management of invasive species it is important to assess landowners’ and broader society’s knowledge and perceptions of invasive species, something which is lacking in many contexts, especially in urban settings. In this study we interviewed 153 householders living in a medium-sized South African town who had declared invasive alien trees in their gardens. Less than half of the respondents could identify the invasive tree on their property and only one-third knew that it was an invasive alien species. There was a positive association between income and education levels with exposure to media about invasive alien species and respondents’ ability to identify the species and name any other invasive alien tree species. Knowledge levels were unequal across species. Amongst those who knew the tree was an invasive alien species, reasons why they retained it in their gardens included that it would be costly or too much effort to remove, they liked the tree, that it was not causing any harm and that the property was rented and so its removal was not their responsibility. However, the majority of people (83 %) were willing to have it removed from their garden if done for free by appropriate agencies, which is promising for compliance with new regulations on invasive species implemented at the end of 2014 in South Africa. The results also highlight the need for targeted and appropriate education and awareness programs amongst urban householders on invasive alien species, relevant legislation and their obligations.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (11 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Springer Link
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Biological Invasions, Shackleton, C.M. and Shackleton, R.T., 2016. Knowledge, perceptions and willingness to control designated invasive tree species in urban household gardens in South Africa. Biological Invasions, 18(6), pp.1599-1609, Biological Invasions volume 18 number 6 p. 1599 2016 1573-1464
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the SpringerLink Terms of Use Statement ( https://link.springer.com/termsandconditions)
- Rights
- Open Access
- Hits: 707
- Visitors: 882
- Downloads: 196
Collections
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods
Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)
RU Department of Environmental Science
SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 15. Life On Land
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Knowledge, perceptions and willingness to control designated invasive tree species in urban household gardens in South Africa.pdf | 542 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |