Effects of Recreational Anglers’ Sense of Place on Their Stewardship Intentions in Private and Social Contexts on Gotland, Sweden

This study explored the effect of recreational anglers’ sense of place on their intentions to engage in environmental stewardship actions on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Both sense of place and environmental stewardship were conceptualized as multi-dimensional constructs to explore the nuances of place meaning and place attachment on the anglers’ intentions to perform stewardship actions in private and social spheres, and catch-and-release angling. Partial least squares structural equation modeling revealed significant positive effects of sociocultural place meaning on place dependence and place identity, and on social sphere stewardship intentions. Biophysical place meaning positively influenced stewardship intentions in the private sphere and catch-and-release intentions. Our findings illustrate that the anglers’ intentions to engage in stewardship action on Gotland were influenced by their relationships to Gotland as an angling place. We highlight the importance of acknowledging the diversity of people-place relationships and their differential effects on stewardship actions.