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

- Ecologically diverse nature areas overlapped significantly with attractive nature areas.
- Different nature areas evoked different emotions.
- Nature protection policy should consider demographic trends and psychological experiences.

The most binding nature protection policy in the Netherlands and the 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, who is experiencing increases in education, income, and health. This paper argues that although existing policies protect biodiversity needs, the spatialemotional needs of the public are of similarly high importance. We analyze the spatial and emotional characteristics of favorite natural places in the Netherlands selected on the Hotspotsmonitor survey. Content analysis of the open question, "Why is this place important to you?" identified three categories: peace & quiet, 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.