Nature through cultural lens
Understanding cultural values toward nature in a rural case study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23312413 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Youssra El Ghafraoui (0009-0002-5176-402X, University of Almería, corresponding author), Marina García-Llorente (0000-0002-3527-9318, Fractal Systems (Canada)), Daniela Alba-Patiño (0000-0003-1405-8126, University of Almería), Beatriz Salazar-Gálvez (0000-0002-5892-7680, University of Almería), Cristina Quintas‐soriano (0000-0002-3437-7629, Fractal Systems (Canada)) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-12-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ecosystems and People (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2639-5908 • E-ISSN: 2639-5916 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/26395916.2026.2700219 |
| OpenAlex | W7169790048 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 57 |
Traditional agricultural systems in rural regions are emblematic multifunctional landscapes with high ecological and cultural value. However, they are undergoing rapid transformation due to land abandonment, agricultural intensification, and shifting societal values. Understanding how local communities relate to nature is essential for developing inclusive conservation strategies and safeguarding biocultural diversity. This study explores local ecological knowledge (LEK), nature’s values, and perceived contributions of nature to a good quality of life in a rural region of southeastern Spain. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were qualitatively coded to examine perceptions of nature change, its drivers, and the cultural importance of nature. Most participants perceived a negative trend in nature, mainly attributed to climate change, habitat degradation, and agricultural intensification. Nature was primarily valued for its contributions to physical well-being, cultural identity, place attachment, and social cohesion, highlighting the interdependence of biological and cultural dimensions in rural landscapes. Despite concerns about land abandonment and rural depopulation, some participants also identified positive trends, including habitat restoration and more sustainable agricultural practices. The results revealed strong biocultural interconnections between ecological and cultural dimensions, with LEK acting as a key conduit linking people and plants through knowledge transmission. Plants and landscapes emerged as the most salient ecological elements, associated with agricultural traditions, festivals, domestic practices, and symbolic, spiritual, and identity-related values. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of examining biocultural diversity through LEK to improve understanding of human–nature relationships and to inform conservation policies that integrate local values while promoting ecosystem integrity and human well-being.
Agricultural biodiversity · Agriculture · Cultural diversity · Cultural landscape · Diversity (politics) · Ecological anthropology · Ecosystem services · Land use · Safeguarding · Traditional knowledge · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Land Use and Ecosystem Services
Global understanding of farmland abandonment
The direct drivers of recent global anthropogenic biodiversity loss
Environmental Governance for the Anthropocene? Social-Ecological Systems, Resilience, and Collaborative Learning
Using perceptions as evidence to improve conservation and environmental management
Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene
Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change
Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment
Assessing nature's contributions to people
Stakeholder participation for environmental management
Resilience and the Cultural Landscape
Sacred Ecology
Insects contribution to people
A leverage points perspective on sustainability
An ecological perspective for analysing rural depopulation and abandonment
Perceived contributions of multifunctional landscapes to human well‐being
Effects of land abandonment on nature contributions to people and good quality of life components in the Mediterranean region
Understanding the diversity of values of “Nature’s contributions to people”
Emotional attachment and philosophical worldviews explain human connectedness to nature in abandoned rural Spain
Forest commons, traditional community ownership and ecological consequences
Bio-cultural refugia—Safeguarding diversity of practices for food security and biodiversity
Impacts of land use change on ecosystem services and implications for human well-being in Spanish drylands
Connecting Diverse Knowledge Systems for Enhanced Ecosystem Governance
Can dry rivers provide a good quality of life? Integrating beneficial and detrimental nature’s contributions to people over time
Exploring biocultural diversity
Rewilding and restoring cultural landscapes in Mediterranean mountains
The Intersections of Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity
Exploring intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values for sustainable management of social-ecological systems
Land abandonment, landscape, and biodiversity
Planetary Boundaries
The agroecological revolution in Latin America
Knowledge, Learning and the Evolution of Conservation Practice for Social-Ecological System Resilience
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |