While maintaining friendships from a distance can be tough, they can surprisingly contribute to environmental conservation. Recent research indicates that these personal connections can enhance community-focused conservation efforts. Although the study concentrated on 28 fishing villages in northern Tanzania, its findings could have wider implications for conservation around the globe.
While maintaining friendships from a distance can be tough, they can surprisingly contribute to environmental conservation.
Research led by Washington State University, published in Conservation Letters, discovered that social connections can play a vital role in community-based conservation. Focusing on 28 fishing villages in northern Tanzania, the study suggests that its insights could apply to global conservation initiatives.
“Our findings challenge the idea that distant connections weaken conservation efforts,” stated Kristopher Smith, the lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health. “We demonstrate that these friendships can help build the trust and cooperation necessary for managing shared natural resources.”
The study indicates that individuals with a greater number of friends in nearby communities are notably more involved in sustainable fisheries management. For instance, having just one long-distance friend can lead to a 15% boost in participation in conservation efforts such as beach cleanups, reporting illegal fishing, or educating others on sustainable resource practices compared to someone with no long-distance friendships.
The researchers credit this phenomenon to the unique support offered by long-distance friends, such as loans for purchasing fishing gear, which may not be easily accessible locally. This mutual dependency encourages both parties to conserve shared resources.
For their evaluation, Smith and his team interviewed 1,317 participants in Tanzania’s Tanga region. They employed Bayesian statistical models to analyze how many long-distance relationships participants had and how trust among individuals from different communities impacted their involvement in Beach Management Unit activities—local organizations made up of fishers and other stakeholders responsible for managing fisheries collaboratively due to the shared nature of these resources.
The findings revealed that long-distance friendships promote participation in conservation activities in two key ways. First, individuals with more long-distance friends exhibited greater engagement in such efforts. Second, these connections foster trust between communities, further motivating collaboration across different areas. Participants who had high trust in neighboring communities were far more active in fisheries management compared to those who relied solely on local relationships. Interestingly, trust within their own communities appeared to have a negligible impact on participation, underscoring the unique influence of cross-community connections on collective endeavors.
While the study emphasizes the advantages of long-distance friendships, it also recognizes potential drawbacks. Past research has indicated that such connections could enable “leakage,” where friends collaborate to circumvent conservation regulations—like sharing details about patrol schedules which could facilitate illegal activities.
“What’s special about our findings is that we illustrate both the positive and negative aspects,” Smith noted. “These friendships can indeed lead to rule violations, but they also have significant potential to support conservation efforts.”
The insights from this study are already influencing local groups like the Mwambao Coastal Community Network, which collaborated on the research. This Tanzanian NGO collaborates with fishing communities to strengthen inter-village relationships, facilitating events such as temporary fishery closures and reopenings. These activities illustrate the concrete benefits of conservation while building connections among communities.
“This research confirms what organizations like Mwambao are already implementing,” said Smith. “By demonstrating that fostering long-distance ties offers additional advantages, this research can help shape larger initiatives for groups like our partner Mwambao.” Going forward, the research team aims to investigate the dynamics of long-distance relationships in different natural resource contexts, like forestry and efforts to lower carbon emissions. They seek to understand when such connections result in leakage versus effective conservation.
Ultimately, these findings could significantly impact global conservation strategies, especially as governments and organizations confront issues like climate change and declining biodiversity. Introducing conservation policies that nurture inter-community relationships, such as exchange programs or cooperative training sessions, could harness the benefits of long-distance trust to promote sustainable practices on a larger scale.
“Long-distance relationships have historically been part of how communities manage access to resources,” remarked Anne Pisor, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of anthropology at Penn State University. “By leveraging these relationships, organizations can draw on established strategies to tackle a variety of 21st century challenges.”
