How deep is your love - of nature? A psychological and spatial analysis of the depth of feelings towards Dutch nature areas

The most binding nature protection policy in the Netherlands and EU primarily designates areas based on ecological value, ensuring their sustained protection. Of less concern to these policies are the current and future needs of the average citizen, experiencing increases in education, income and health. This paper argues that although existing policies protect biodiversity needs, the spatial-emotional needs of this increasingly ‘satisfied’ population is of similarly high importance. Drawing upon tourism, planning and psychological research, we analyze the spatial and emotional characteristics of favorite natural places in the Netherlands selected on the Hotspotsmonitor survey by N = 1,715 members of a Dutch nature conservation organization. Content analysis of the open question, “Why is this your favorite place?” identified three categories: peace & quiet, let’s explore and peak. These were mapped using GIS to identify predominant hotspots and compared against the most binding nature protection policy – Natura 2000. The important societal benefits of augmenting ecologically based nature protection policies with emotional valuation are discussed.