Please cite this article in press as: Buijs, A.E., et al., No wilderness for immigrants: Cultural differences in images of nature and landscape preferences. Landscape Urban Plann (2009), doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.12.003 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model LAND-1668; No. of Pages 11 Landscape and Urban Planning xxx (2009) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Landscape and Urban Planning journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan No wilderness for immigrants: Cultural differences in images of nature and landscape preferences Arjen E. Buijs ∗ , Birgit H.M. Elands, Fransje Langers Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, The Netherlands article info Article history: Received 21 March 2008 Received in revised form 27 November 2008 Accepted 9 December 2008 Available online xxx Keywords: Landscape perception Visions of nature General public Lay people Culture Ethnicity abstract Despite the growing cultural diversity in many European countries, nature recreation is still a very “white” activity. Immigrants hardly ever visit non-urban green areas. Prior research has suggested that different perceptions of nature and landscape may be related to this limited use. Based on 618 questionnaires, this article investigates to what extent immigrants from Islamic countries and the native Dutch have different images of nature and landscape preferences. Using the concept of images of nature, cultural differences in meanings attached to nature are explored. Three images of nature are described: the wilderness image, the functional image, and the inclusive image. The wilderness image focuses on ecocentric values and the independence of nature; the functional image focuses on anthropocentric values and intensive man- agement and the inclusive image focuses on ecocentric values and an intimate relationship between humans and nature. Native Dutch people are strong supporters of the wilderness image, while immigrants generally support the functional image. In addition, landscape preferences differ significantly between immigrants and native Dutch people. In general, immigrants show lower preferences for non-urban land- scapes. Immigrants show especially low preferences for wild and unmanaged landscapes, like marshes and dunes. Multivariate analyses of variance showed that images of nature and immigrant-status are the most powerful predictors of differences in landscape preferences. Age, gender and education have only a small additional predictive power. The practical and theoretical consequences of these findings are discussed. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction 1.1. Background of the study Visitors to European rural areas or National Parks will not encounter many immigrants. Clearly, the profile of those partici- pating in outdoor recreation does not reflect the growing number of immigrants from non-western countries (Jókövi, 2001). Many European countries have experienced significant immigration in recent years. At the present time, 13% of the German population, 10% of the French and Dutch population and 8% of the UK population consist of immigrants (Dumont and Lemaître, 2005). The majority of non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands originate from two Islamic countries on the Mediterranean, Turkey and Morocco (CBS, 2007). Nature conservation organizations have also recognized a lack of immigrants in their memberships. They acknowledge the need to understand the demographic and cultural factors that influence ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 317 481661; fax: +31 317 486193. E-mail addresses: arjen.buijs@wur.nl (A.E. Buijs), birgit.elands@wur.nl (B.H.M. Elands), fransje.langers@wur.nl (F. Langers). landscape preferences in order to attract minority groups to their protected areas in the future (Natuurmonumenten, 2007). In this context, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has expressed concern about the limited support that the expand- ing immigrant community shows for protecting natural landscapes. They wish to gain deeper insight into the type of Dutch landscapes that immigrants prefer. From research conducted in the Unites States, which focused on racial and ethnic differences in landscape perception and outdoor recreation, we know that immigrants and African Americans are less likely than U.S.-born whites to visit nature reserves (Johnson et al., 2004) and that such differences may be related to different landscape preferences and different meanings attached to nature (Johnson et al., 1997). Research also shows that Anglo-Americans generally favor a more natural and less managed environment, whereas groups such as Afro-Americans and Latin-Americans favor a more developed and managed environment (Zube and Pitt, 1981; Kaplan and Talbot, 1988; Virden and Walker, 1999). Stodolska and Livengood (2006) showed that the leisure behavior of Mus- lim immigrants in the U.S. manifests itself through strong family ties and social bonding. They suggested that a well-managed environment fits these leisure purposes better than a wilderness environment. 0169-2046/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.12.003