Political action can reduce introductions of diseases caused by invasive forest pathogens (IPs) and public support is important for effective prevention. The public's awareness of IP problems and the acceptability of policies aiming to combat these pathogens were surveyed in nine European countries (N=3469). Although awareness of specific diseases (e.g., ash dieback) varied, problem awareness and policy acceptability were similar across countries. The public was positive towards policies for informational measures and stricter standards for plant production, but less positive towards restricting public access to protected areas. Multilevel models, including individual and country level variables, revealed that media exposure was positively associated with awareness of IP problems, and strengthened the link between problem awareness and policy acceptability. Results suggest that learning about IPs through the media and recognizing the associated problems increase policy acceptability. Overall, the study elaborates on the anthropogenic dimension of diseases caused by IPs.
1.Umea Univ, Dept Geog & Econ Hist, S-90187 Umea, Sweden 2.Umea Univ, Dept Psychol, Umea, Sweden 3.Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Dept Forest Mycol & Plant Pathol, Box 7026, S-75007 Uppsala, Sweden 4.Fed Res & Training Ctr Forests Nat Hazards & Land, Dept Forest Protect, Seckendorff Gudent Weg 8, A-1131 Vienna, Austria 5.Mendel Univ Brno, Fac Forestry & Wood Technol, Phytophthora Res Ctr, Zemedelska 3, Brno 61300, Czech Republic 6.Fed Res & Training Ctr Forests Nat Hazards & Land, Dept Forest Protect, Phytopathol, Vienna, Austria 7.Univ Bordeaux, INRA, UMR1202 BIOGECO, F-33610 Cestas, France 8.Norwegian Inst Bioecon Res, POB 115, N-1431 As, Norway 9.Mendel Univ Brno, Fac Forestry & Wood Technol, Phytophthora Res Ctr, Zemedelska 3, Brno 61300, Czech Republic 10.Univ Algarve, Ctr Mediterranean Bioresources & Food, Lab Mol Biotechnol & Phytopathol, Algarve, Portugal 11.Suleyman Demirel Univ, Fac Forestry, Dept Bot, TR-32600 Isparta, Turkey 12.Cankiri Karatekin Univ, Fac Forestry, Dept Forest Entomol & Protect, TR-18200 Cankiri, Turkey 13.AgroBioInstitute, Agr Acad, Biot Stress Grp, 8 Dragan Tzankov Blvd, Sofia 1164, Bulgaria 14.Univ Lleida, ETSEA, Dept Crop & Forest Sci, Ave Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain
Recommended Citation:
Eriksson, Louise,Boberg, Johanna,Cech, Thomas L.,et al. Invasive forest pathogens in Europe: Cross-country variation in public awareness but consistency in policy acceptability[J]. AMBIO,2019-01-01,48(1):1-12