Sammendrag
Sheep farmers in areas with large carnivores experience economic loss,
psychological stress, and perceived alienation from political processes.
This can result in decisions that differ from those made by farmers in
areas without large carnivores, possibly influencing the whole farming
system. We used applications for farming subsidies to examine
changes in sheep farming in Norway 1999 to 2017. Along the urbanrural dimension, we found a stronger decline in increasingly rural
areas. The decline was furthermore larger inside regions used for the
reintroduction of large carnivores than outside these regions. The
observed decline in some regions was compensated by growth in
central regions, outside carnivore prone areas, and on managed land
where the sheep was protected from carnivores. The result complements studies of mental dispositions and decision processes aiming to
explain how large carnivores and the carnivore management policy
influence the farmers' attitudes and decisions, resulting in behaviors
that effect larger social systems.
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