Social trust in adaptation to multi-species management

Trust is fundamental in any interpersonal relationship, and is highly essential to initiate, establish, and maintain social relationships. Social trust is described as the willingness to rely on persons representing... [ view full abstract ]

Trust is fundamental in any interpersonal relationship, and is highly essential to initiate, establish, and maintain social relationships. Social trust is described as the willingness to rely on persons representing institutions such as wildlife manage agencies and is discussed as an important aspect of pro-environmental behaviour, resilience and adaptive capacity. The multi-level and multi-actor approach to the management of moose in Sweden calls for trust between actors from local to national level. This study aims to explore the role of social trust among the local moose management groups in relation to the individual members’ adaptation to a new management situation and the adaptive capacity of the group. A web-based survey was administered to all members of the moose management groups (n=765, response rate=81%) and the questionnaire data was subject to correlational analysis and content analysis of open-ended responses. Social trust was associated with the perception of wildlife management as better supporting current needs (r = .55, p < .001) and presence of situations causing negative stress. In those situations where the moose management groups caused stressful situations, higher social trust was negatively correlated with coping strategies of behavioural disengagement (r = -.19, p < .001) and venting of negative emotions (r = -.34, p <.001). Moreover social trust was found to be positively and significantly associated with the perceived adaptive capacity of the moose management groups (r = 43, p < .001). It is concluded that social trust might serve to facilitate communication and collaboration in decentralized wildlife management and may help members of local groups to refrain from coping strategies hindering adaptation, and strengthening the adaptive capacity of these groups.