Internal and External Factors

Factors can elicit certain human behaviours which lead to the decline of the orang-utan population. Similarly for conservation, there are internal (person) and external (environmental) factors which can influence and alter behaviours. External factors can come in the form of social norms, feedback, goals, reinforcement contingencies and prompts. While internal factors include knowledge, attitudes, values, emotions, efficacy and responsibility.

Through the conservation projects or activities initiated by the organisations, it is evident that these projects or activities are targeted at several external and internal components. A handful but not all components will be discussed as not all of them are applicable to the context. It will be looked into how implementation of such projects or activities aim to achieve the desired behaviours in humans.

Internal Factors

a) Knowledge

The goal of conservation projects are to ensure that knowledge of orang-utan protection and also what they can do to save the orang-utans are passed on to the people. Being aware of the issue at hand, they are better able to understand and guide themselves and others around them to act in ways that produce the desired behaviors, to aid in conservation of these animals.

Projects such as the eco tour led by Dr. Galdikas, educational programs implemented by the OFI, “Project 560″ and the “OrangUvan” are examples of knowledge-giving tools to equip the people with the necessary information, to be aware of how serious the problem is and to know what each of them can do to play a part in the orang-utan conservation.

b) Attitudes and Values

As mentioned before, the reason people engaged in the commercial activities which harmed the orang-utans and its habitats because they adopted the utilitarian value and have taken a positive attitude towards those activities.

Therefore, most conservation projects are encouraging the humanistic, ecologistic and moralistic value as well as having a negative outlook that the commercial activities have over-exploited the forests and the orang-utans. Therefore, the projects aimed to shift the attitudes and values of the people towards one that takes a negative stand on overexploitation so as to be on par with goals of the conservation projects.

c) Emotion

In order to evoke strong emotions towards the forests and the orang-utans, there is a need to be in close contact with nature. One such example would be the eco tour. The eco tour revolves around a conservation issue which in this case, refers to the decline of the orang-utan population. Being able to watch the behavior of orang-utans in their own environment , it can elicit emotions such as compassion and empathy because participants are able to “relieve” first hand experience on the livelihood of orang-utans. Hence, with increased emotional response towards nature and the wildlife, hopefully it encourages them to do their part in protecting these animals be it physically through volunteering or verbally by spreading the conservation message.

d) Responsibility

Knowing what people can do is related to what people should do to help in conservation. Knowing that it is within their means to help in conservation, will increase their sense of responsibility. “Project 560″ and the establishment of the “conservation villages” are projects which try to increase the responsibility of the people. Both projects require people to make a commitment to act in a desirable way towards conservation. In other words, it meant that there is an active participation on their part, making them feel that they are responsible for what they do and to stay committed. As seen in “Project 560″, people who commit to this project is expected to adopt a day to raise funds for the orang-utans while for the “conservation villages”, communities are expected to adopt sustainable livelihoods in order to contribute towards conserving the orang-utans and the forests. Thus, such projects allow people to have control over their behaviors, making them feel responsible and accountable for their chosen action.

The HOCRU is yet another example of instilling responsibility. It is also a form of community participation, specifically, participatory planning, because it involves community members working together with the HOCRU officers in designing and coming up with a solution to resolve the issue of crop raiding by the orang-utans without harming them. By allowing the members to collaborate with the HOCRU, there is a sense of group identity between the members and the officers which can lead to empowerment. This group identity can in turn motivate the members to protect their local environment and the orang-utans.

External Factors

a) Social norms

Social norms can influence the behavior of others. People are likely to engage in the behavior when they see others doing it as well. Using the “conservation villages” as the example, it is assumed that a person will be influenced if they saw another person in their village engaging in sustainable measures. They will also assume that the action is being “approved” by others around them. Therefore, when the behavior is being “approved” and others in the village are engaging in it as well, it appears to be a norm in the village and there is pressure for other villagers to adopt the same goal.

By doing so, people also present themselves in a more positive way by having an environmental social identity because they engaged in sustainable behaviors.Through long-term engagement with these sustainable measures and better understanding of the environment, hopefully the environmental social identity will be transformed to an environmental identity, where one is now genuinely connected to the environment. When these people develop an environmental identity, they are able to educate and convince others to care for the forests, so that the orang-utans can continue to live in their habitats.

Besides working on the internal and external factors which influence human behavior, there are also other aspects which can also help in contributing to the conservation sector.

Picture credit
Factors Influencing Behavior. Source: Conservation Psychology: Understanding and Promoting Human Care for Nature