Nature on the doorstep : the relationship between protected natural areas and residential activity in the European countryside

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to gain insight into the ability of protected natural areas to attract new residential activity and in the role they play in the enhancement of the quality of life of local rural residents. To understand these processes information was collected on the characteristics of households that were living in or directly adjacent to protected natural areas and their behavioral responses to the presence of protected nature. The assessment by local people of the presence of protected nature in their residential environment was also taken into consideration. The principle conclusion of the empirical research of this study is that the presence of a protected natural area or the quality of the physical environment, which is enhanced by the presence of a protected natural area, are important reasons to select such an area as a new place to live. Motives related to the quality of the physical environment were also most frequently mentioned reasons for residential satisfaction in the study areas. The composition of the population group that had recently moved towards protected natural areas was distinctive. Early retirement, higher education, self-employment and commuting were overrepresented characteristics in the incomers population of the study areas, in comparison with incomers in other adjacent rural areas. Striking similarities were also found in household characteristics, appreciation and behavioural response to protected nature between incomers in the Dutch and British case study areas. This also applied to household characteristics of second home residents in the Spanish case study area as compared to incomers of the Dutch and British study areas. In addition, clear differences in residential choice motivations between Dutch, British and Spanish study populations were also detected, which could be connected to differences in perceptions of the concepts ‘rural’ and ‘natural’ and the specific regional and national settings. The research results further indicate that under influence of societal changes, household behaviour will be driven by the wish to use rural areas for consumption orientated activities in which the specific endogenous qualities of rural areas, such as natural amenities, play an important role. The explanation of the overall strong appreciation of protected nature in the residential environment should be sought in the notion that nature contributes to the quality of the living environment and therefore to the personal quality of life. The protection measures that are inherent to the protection regime of designated areas did however restrict or reduce the appreciation of protected nature in the residential environment. Especially in the English and Spanish case study areas this caused a more critical posture towards the presence of protected nature or more specifically towards the side effects of the protection status of the area.