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Dr. Jill Korach is Project Dragonfly’s Assistant Director of Field Programs where she instructs multiple Earth Expeditions courses each year, advises graduate students, and partners with global conservation organizations worldwide. She has a Ph.D. in ecology, evolution, and environmental biology, a master’s in environmental science, and a B.A. in biology. Jill’s research focuses on the importance of natural places, including how understanding our personal-nature connections can contribute positively to conservation.
It can be difficult for people to perform the behaviors necessary to address sustainability challenges because selfish actions are often more appealing than choices that benefit nature and future generations. Although many useful approaches to pro-environmentalism focus on strengthening relatively simple bivariate relations (e.g., nature connectedness and community-based conservation), we propose that more effective outcomes can be realized by combining three mutually reinforcing elements that support sustainability. Specifically, we outline our Triadic Framework, which focuses on the integration of nature, communities, and belief systems with each other and within people’s self-concepts. In addition to emphasizing the shared overlap among these reciprocal elements, this framework stresses that greater integration of one’s sense of self with these elements will heighten personal motivations to perform sustainable actions. Our paper examines (1) the interconnections among nature, communities, and belief systems and (2) how these three elements can be interrelated and enmeshed in people’s self-concepts to produce greater commitment to conservation. Finally, we describe a real-world example of the Triadic Framework used effectively to promote conservation of mature forests in the Western Ghats of India, and we outline ways for others to leverage this framework to address everyday sustainability challenges.
Jill Korach; Allen McConnell. The Triadic Framework: Integrating Nature, Communities, and Belief Systems into the Self-Concept for Sustained Conservation Action. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8348 .
AMA StyleJill Korach, Allen McConnell. The Triadic Framework: Integrating Nature, Communities, and Belief Systems into the Self-Concept for Sustained Conservation Action. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (15):8348.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJill Korach; Allen McConnell. 2021. "The Triadic Framework: Integrating Nature, Communities, and Belief Systems into the Self-Concept for Sustained Conservation Action." Sustainability 13, no. 15: 8348.
Local people make daily decisions around land use, many living in or near conservation areas. Community members may already value and care for important local areas by employing self-imposed use restrictions regardless of formal conservation area designations. We set out to understand the places and plant species of greatest personal value to the local community members and forest managers of Belize’s Community Baboon Sanctuary, a group recognized for a well-established community conservation ethic. We combined individual community interviews and plant transect data to assess: 1) locations of, place attachment, and personal values associated with an individual’s most important place, 2) which plant species are valued and found within these key sites, and 3) what measures can influence local management and conservation decisions. Community members primarily valued individual places most (e.g., home gardens, farms) and we uncovered a positive correlation between reported personal connections to place and stronger personal values including happiness, dependence, and peacefulness associated with important places. Higher place attachment also predicts a higher level of plant knowledge reported by community members. Individuals noted 52 locally important plant species with benefits including food, construction, and medicinal applications and we calculated Use Value and Importance Value for each species. Pilot plant transects show percentages of highly valued plants were found in personally important places, including several key species that benefit the Sanctuary’s focal primate species, the black howler monkey, Alouatta pigra. Better understanding of personal values, knowledge, and attachment to key natural places can lead to improved forest plant diversity and more comprehensive place-based strategies for conservation decisions made at the individual and community level.
Jill Korach; Peter Herrera; Chris Myers. Linking locally valued plants and places for conservation, Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize. Global Ecology and Conservation 2020, 23, e01065 .
AMA StyleJill Korach, Peter Herrera, Chris Myers. Linking locally valued plants and places for conservation, Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize. Global Ecology and Conservation. 2020; 23 ():e01065.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJill Korach; Peter Herrera; Chris Myers. 2020. "Linking locally valued plants and places for conservation, Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize." Global Ecology and Conservation 23, no. : e01065.