We are excited to share the results from the first stage of the representative survey conducted in all Danube countries to study the socio-economic impact of the LIFE WILDisland project and consider and compare the attitudes and opinions of people living in or visiting the Danube Region.
A total of 2692 respondents - local citizens, visitors, experts and project partners - from 8 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania) took part in the survey on-site and online.
The results of the survey show several overall conclusions:
- There is a high degree of support for the Danube conservation measures, and for the strict protection of the Danube islands and the prohibition to access strictly protected islands to better preserve their sensitive nature Danube-wide.
- There is a pronounced difference between the countries in the Upper Danube (Germany, Austria, and Slovakia) and the rest of the countries that participated in this research study. Namely, the participants from the countries in the Upper Danube prefer less river regulation, and more often see river (over)regulation as aesthetically unappealing and as a threat to nature.
- Local population supports the conservation measures in the least extent, in comparison to other respondents - visitors, general public and experts, and more often sees the protected areas as an economic (forestry, fishing) or recreational resource.
- Stakeholders perceive river (over)regulation as the stronger threat in comparison to the general population, visitors, and local population.
- All population types in all countries feel that they are not well informed about the protected areas on the Danube in their respective countries, even though there is a relatively high level of awareness of the existence of various institutions, programs and funding instruments related to the protection of the Danube.
These results will help us better understand the needs of our local communities and visitors and tailor and better target our communication activities to improve the awareness and acceptance of our on-site work.
The survey will be repeated at the project end to compare the change of attiudes and perception, hoping that the LIFE WILDisland project has contibuted to not only restoring the biodiversity of the Danube, but also involving and interesting communties in freshwater conservation.
The full report is available for download here