Do people really support conservation? Evidence from China and the United States

Abstract

Survey studies have consistently shown strong public support for biodiversity conservation, even though conservation regulations often face strong local resistance when they are implemented. This seemingly contradictory phenomenon is due to the fact that previous polls have sought opinion only in the abstract, yet many conservation measures are implemented at the expense of local economic development, and policymakers often face a ‘Conservation-Development Tradeoff’-a policy dilemma that remains understudied by social scientists. To fill this gap, this study conducts one of the first comparative surveys on public support for biodiversity conservation in China and the United States. I measure public support for conservation using two separate question versions online. The ‘regular version’ asks directly about individual support for biodiversity conservation, and the “tradeoff version” asks the same question but in the context of the policy tradeoff. The results show that both American and Chinese citizens are highly supportive of conservation in the abstract. But after they learn about the tradeoff effect, the aggregate support falls sharply, and the Chinese citizens show significantly less support compared to their American counterparts. The survey findings expanded on existing academic research on public attitudes toward conservation policies and can encourage future conservation policymakers to understand the significance of the tradeoff issue, as conventional wisdom may have overestimated public support for biodiversity conservation. Moreover, as China has become a crucial player in global conservation governance, understanding the Chinese public sentiment on the real-world policy dilemma can have important implications for conservation policymaking in the world.