Citizens’ attitudes towards rural nature conservation through rewilding: Evidence from five biogeographically distinct European countries

Rewilding is an important strategy for nature conservation in European rural areas, but it may also lead to negative socio-economic and ecological consequences. While ecologists have made progress in assessing the impacts of rewilding on rural multifunctionality, these evaluations are rarely connected to citizens’ perceptions and preferences. Given that attitudes towards specific conservation strategies are anchored in broader contextual values and perceptions, this study explored European citizens’ pro-environmental attitudes, their trust in government, perceived benefits of general rural ecosystem services (ES), and perceived threats currently facing rural areas. Specifically, we examined how these baseline values and perceptions subsequently influence citizens’ specific attitudes towards rural rewilding. Online surveys were administered to nationally representative samples across five European countries representing biogeographically distinct regions: Continental (Czech Republic, n = 649), Mediterranean (Spain, n = 623), Boreal (Sweden, n = 645), Alpine (Switzerland, n = 641), and Atlantic (United Kingdom, n = 632). Participants showed moderate to strong support for rural rewilding, with the highest levels of support observed in Spain and the UK. Perceived rural ES benefits and threats were positively associated with support for rewilding. Overall, participants valued regulating and maintenance ES and cultural ES more highly than provisioning ES, and expressed greater concern about threats related to environmental degradation and socio-economic problems in agri-food supply chains than about land-use change. Participants with greater trust in government or stronger pro-environmental attitudes were more likely to support rural rewilding. The results provide evidence of relevance to policymaking associated with rural nature conservation, in particular rewilding, across European biogeographical regions.