Do April showers bring May flowers? Knowledge and perceptions of local biodiversity influencing understanding of global environmental change. A presentation of the PIAF project

Abstract

The multidisciplinary and comparative PIAF program (ANR Jeunes Chercheurs 2014-2018) uses perceptions and discourse relating to biodiversity to investigate local understandings of environmental change and strategies for adaptation to those changes. Beginning from the hypothesis that a person's connection to the environment differs according to his or her degree of dependence on natural resources and place of residence, we examine perceptions and strategies on an urban-rural-protected area gradient in four northern and southern countries (France, the United States, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe). PIAF brings together social and natural scientists who seek to contribute to our understanding of perceptions and knowledge related to environmental change and, more globally, to our understanding of social-ecological interactions in a situation of change, social and environmental tensions, and dynamics of socio-ecological systems.

Keywords

• environment
• biodiversity and natural resources
• environmental changes
• indicators
• comparative and interdisciplinary approaches