Novel insights into the cognitive, emotional, and experiential dimensions of stakeholder acceptance of wildlife management

Understanding wildlife stakeholders is vital in mitigating the risk for inertia in the implementation of management and illegal activities, e.g., poaching. We used a unique set of questionnaire data of stakeholders in Sweden (n = 8728) comprising birdwatchers, hunters, farmers, and the general public, to analyze evaluations of geese, beliefs about goose management at multiple levels, and acceptance of management tools. Also, a hierarchical model incorporating prior wildlife experience and integrating cognitions and emotions for acceptance was tested. The overall attitude towards geese was positive, but ecosystem disservices caused by large populations were acknowledged. The general public and birdwatchers displayed trust in the national, regional, and local levels. In contrast, farmers and hunters trusted mainly the local level. Broad stakeholder acceptance was found for several non-lethal tools for damage reduction and more generally a goose conservation approach including e.g., hunting free zones, but also for hunting during open hunting season. We found support for the proposed model in relation to acceptance of both the conservation and the lethal approach, thereby advancing theory integration. Results suggest that while goose conservation is widely accepted, problems caused by geese and distrust in the higher management levels among some stakeholder groups need to be addressed.