Botetzagias, Iosif, & Evaggelia Kotlida (2017-2018). Bear management in Greece as a ‘problem orientation’ policy issue: A Q-methodology approach. Ægean Journal of Environmental Sciences (AEJES), 3, 1-36.
Abstract: In this research we examine the existing stakeholders’ views on brown bear’s (Ursus arctos) management in northern Greece, by combining the formal structure of the ‘problem orientation’ framework for analysis with Q-methodology, a semi-quantitative method developed specifically to study human subjectivity. We identify three distinct viewpoints, or factors, concerning both the characteristics and causes of the bear ‘problem’ as well as the characteristics of the preferred management alternatives: one guided by the wish to conserve the local bear population, a second prioritizing the local primary sector producers’ (i.e. farmers’ and herders’) welfare and a third one allowing for the lethal management of a damaging––and not-endangered––species. Besides the national-specific relevance of its findings, the methodological format of this research offers a replicable framework for analysis in other national contexts and/or wildlife management.
Iosif Botetzagias <iosif@aegean.gr> is in the Department of Environment, University of the Ægean, Mytiline, Greece.
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