UK local councils reporting of biodiversity values: a stakeholder perspective
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 18 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of narratives in biodiversity reports as a mechanism to raise the awareness of biodiversity’s importance. By classifying biodiversity narratives into 14 categories of biodiversity values this paper investigates whether the explanations for biodiversity conservation used by UK local councils are line with shallow, intermediate or deep philosophies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used content analysis to examine the disclosures on biodiversity’s importance in the biodiversity action plans published by UK local councils. The narratives were first identified and then allocated into 14 categories of biodiversity value. Then, they were ascribed to either shallow (resource conservation, human welfare ecology and preservationism), intermediate (environmental stewardship and moral extensionism) or deep philosophies.
Findings
UK local councils explained biodiversity’s importance mainly in terms of its instrumental value, in line with shallow philosophies such as human welfare ecology and resource conservation. UK local councils sought to raise awareness of biodiversity’ importance by highlighting values that are important for the stakeholders that are able to contribute towards biodiversity conservation such as landowners, residents, visitors, business and industries. The authors also found that local councils’ biodiversity strategies were strongly influenced by 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few accounting studies that engages with the literature on environmental ethics to investigate biodiversity. In line with stakeholder theory, it indicates that explanations on biodiversity’s importance based on anthropocentric philosophies are considered more effective in informing those stakeholders whose behaviour needs to be changed to improve biodiversity conservation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the valuable feedback obtained from the participants at the 9th Critical Management Studies Conference held at the University of Leicester on 8-10 July 2015, the participants at the APIRA Conference held at RMIT University on 13-15 July 2016 and the participants at an RMIT research seminar. Finally, the authors are grateful for the constructive comments offered by the Guest Editors Markus J. Milne, Colin Dey and Shona Russell and the two anonymous AAAJ reviewers.
Citation
Gaia, S. and John Jones, M. (2017), "UK local councils reporting of biodiversity values: a stakeholder perspective", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 30 No. 7, pp. 1614-1638. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-12-2015-2367
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited