Between conservation and achievement: Hunters’ values and sustainability certification as a governance tool in recreational hunting
- 1Unidad de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos y Piscícolas (UIRCP), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales Colonia San José, Ctra. Nacional IV - A, Km 396, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
- 2Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (IIM-CSIC), Rúa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain
- 3Instituto de Ciencias Forestales (ICIFOR, INIA‐CSIC), Ctra. de La Coruña km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Understanding how resource users perceive and negotiate sustainability is essential for designing legitimate conservation governance. This study explores recreational hunters’ preferences for sustainability certification in Spain using a discrete choice experiment. Data were collected from 621 hunters representing both big game and small game modalities. Results show that hunters consistently prioritise ecological criteria—such as game population conservation, habitat management, and wild genetics—yet support for certification is conditional on maintaining satisfactory hunting outcomes. Pro-sustainability attitudes coexist with achievement-oriented motivations, with conservation valued when it sustains continuity, fairness, and authenticity of the hunting experience. These findings highlight how ecological and experiential rationalities can align rather than conflict. By revealing the conditions under which certification is perceived as acceptable, the study shows how sustainability standards can function as information-based governance tools that enhance legitimacy, trust, and adaptive management in recreational hunting systems.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z.
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BibTeX
@article{linares2026between,
title = {{Between conservation and achievement: Hunters’ values and sustainability certification as a governance tool in recreational hunting}},
author = {Olmo Linares and Mario Soliño and Juan Carranza and María Martínez-Jauregui},
journal = {Ambio},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Between conservation and achievement: Hunters’ values and sustainability certification as a governance tool in recreational hunting
AU - Olmo Linares
AU - Mario Soliño
AU - Juan Carranza
AU - María Martínez-Jauregui
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/13
JO - Ambio
DO - 10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z
AB - Understanding how resource users perceive and negotiate sustainability is essential for designing legitimate conservation governance. This study explores recreational hunters’ preferences for sustainability certification in Spain using a discrete choice experiment. Data were collected from 621 hunters representing both big game and small game modalities. Results show that hunters consistently prioritise ecological criteria—such as game population conservation, habitat management, and wild genetics—yet support for certification is conditional on maintaining satisfactory hunting outcomes. Pro-sustainability attitudes coexist with achievement-oriented motivations, with conservation valued when it sustains continuity, fairness, and authenticity of the hunting experience. These findings highlight how ecological and experiential rationalities can align rather than conflict. By revealing the conditions under which certification is perceived as acceptable, the study shows how sustainability standards can function as information-based governance tools that enhance legitimacy, trust, and adaptive management in recreational hunting systems. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-026-02412-z.
SN - 0044-7447
SN - 1654-7209
ER -