Effects of species' characteristics on nongovernmental organizations' attitudes toward species conservation policy

The authors examined the willingness of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to support public species conservation measures as a function of species characteristics, NGOs' interests, and interests harmed by the measures. In an experiment, 39 policy makers from nature conservation, mobility and recreation, and agriculture NGOs read 16 illustrated descriptions of indigenous animal species, which systematically varied across taxon, relative size, and rarity. The representatives rated the importance of species' continued existence to their NGOs and their NGO's support for hypothetical conservation measures for the species. The measures were either described as (a) harmful to the interests of representatives' own NGOs or (b) harmful to the interests of other NGOs. The judgments regarding the importance of species' continued existence and support for conservation measures were found to differ across representatives' NGOs and to depend on taxon and relative size. Support for the measures also depended on the interests harmed (own versus another's).