Determining Urban and Rural Perceptions of Forest Ecosystem Services

Abstract

To ensure the sustainability of forest ecosystem products and services, changing people’s perspectives and increasing their awareness of these resources and services is crucial. Determining people’s perceptions and opinions regarding ecosystem services is critical to this context. This study aims to assess the knowledge levels and views of individuals living in both urban and rural areas of Kastamonu province in Turkey regarding forests and the ecosystem services they provide. Data for the research were collected through 97 face-to-face surveys conducted in urban and rural settings. Differences in participants’ opinions based on their place of residence were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The study results reveal that when people think of forests, the top three associations in terms of importance are nature and wildlife (41.8%), clean air (15.5%), and wild food (7.6%). Regarding the importance of forest ecosystem services, the ranking is as follows: regulatory services (39.2%), supporting services (28.2%), provisioning services (25.1%), and cultural services (7.5%). To ensure the sustainable use and continuity of forest ecosystem services, voluntary payment tendencies per capita are approximately 846 TL/person for the general population, 413.8 TL/person (24,8 $) for rural residents, and 1443.3 TL/person (86,4 $) for urban dwellers in Kastamonu. The total voluntary payment tendency for Kastamonu amounts to 318414942 TL (19066762 $).

Keywords

• Forest
• ecosystem services
• perception
• willingness to pay
• Kastamonu
• Türkiye

Orman Ekosistem Hizmetlerine İlişkin Kentsel ve Kırsal Algıların Belirlenmesi

Öz

Orman ekosistem ürün ve hizmetlerinin sürekliliğinin sağlanması için öncelikle insanların bu kaynak ve hizmetlere bakış açısını değiştirmek ve farkındalıklarının artırılması gerekmektedir. Bu kapsamda insanların ekosistem hizmetlerine karşı algı ve görüşlerinin belirlenmesi önemlidir. Bu çalışmada Kastamonu ili kent merkezi ve kırsalında yaşayan insanların ormanlar ve orman ekosistem hizmetleri ile ilgili görüş ve düşünceleri ile bu hizmetler hakkındaki bilgi düzeyleri belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri Kastamonu İli kent ve kırsalında, yüz yüze yapılan toplam 97 anketden elde edilmiştir. İkamet yerlerine göre katılımcıların görüşlerinde farklılık olup olmadığı Kruskal-Wallis ve Mann-Whitney U testleri ile analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçları orman dendiğinde insanların önem düzeyine göre sıraladığı ilk üç olgunun doğa ve canlılar (%41,8), temiz hava (%15,5) ve yabani yiyecekler (%7,6) olduğunu göstermiştir. Orman ekosistem hizmetlerinde ise atfedilen öneme göre yapılan sıralama ise, düzenleyici hizmetler (%39,2), destekleyici hizmetler (%28,2) ve tedarik hizmetleri (%25,1) ve kültürel hizmetler (%7,5) şeklindedir. Kırsal alanda en çok önem verilen orman ekosistem hizmetleri doğa ve canlılar (%69), temiz hava (%13,8), yabani yiyecekler (%3,5) ve yaşam alanı olması (%3,5) iken kentsel alanlarda ise doğa ve canlılar (%51,3), temiz hava (%20,5) ve rekreasyon-ekoturizm (%10,3)’dir. Orman ekosistem hizmetlerinin sürdürülebilir kullanımı ve devamlılığının sağlanması ve geliştirilmesi amacıyla Kastamonu halkın gönüllü ödeme eğiliminin kişi başına ortalama 846 TL (50,7 $), kırsal alandakilerin kişi başı ortalama ödeme eğilimi 413,8 TL (24,8 $) ve kent merkezinde yaşayanların ise 1443,3 TL’dir (86,4 $). Kastamonu geneli için toplam gönüllü ödeme eğilimi ise 318414942 TL’dir (19066762 $).

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Orman
• ekosistem hizmetleri
• algı
• ödeme istekliliği
• Kastamonu
• Türkiye

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