How do cultural factors influence the attitudes of human populations protecting fauna? A systematic review
June 1, 2024 - Landim, Andre Santos; Souza, Jeferson de Menezes; dos Santos, Lucrecia Braz; Lins-Neto, Ernani Machado de Freitas; da Silva, Daniel Tenorio; Ferreira, Felipe Silva
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EmailJournal or Book Title: JOURNAL FOR NATURE CONSERVATION
Abstract: Beliefs, myths and folklore can directly influence the way we interact with animals, determining whether these animals are persecuted or protected by humans. However, studies on cultural factors associated with fauna are carried out from a local perspective. Considering the importance of analyzes on a macro scale, evaluating how cultural factors influence human attitudes towards animals is an important research tool to identify the existence of patterns of use. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review is to evaluate which cultural factors are associated with vertebrate species around the world. The search for systematic review titles took place between April and May 2021. The search for keywords took place in the databases Science Direct, Scopus, SciELo and Web of Science associating the term belief, myth and folklore with the taxa amphibians, birds, mammals, fish and reptiles. The search for articles in the databases returned 33,451 titles related to cultural factors, using key terms. After the screening steps, 44 articles were included for data collection. A total of 274 species associated with cultural factors (belief, myth and folklore) were recorded. The cultural factor belief was predominant, being associated with 256 species. The present systematic review identified that the majority of cultural factors favor the persecution of fauna and South America presented the largest number of studies on cultural factors related to fauna. Our study recommends that all fauna conservation proposals must be based on local strategies and must, as a priority, evaluate the influence of beliefs, myths and folklores on human attitudes, and establish guidelines based on these investigations, favoring the reconstruction of the relationship between man and animal considering the biological and cultural elements present in this relationship.
Type of Publication: Review