Abstract

Human-caused pollution, overexploitation, and climate variations are major factors that harm aquatic ecosystems and are out of the scope of scientific solutions alone, as these need the commitment of the local communities not only on the socio-psychological but also on the socio-cultural level. Up to this point, the combination of psychological paradigms in the form of stories, emotions, and identities, and participatory conservation programs as a new way to raise environmental awareness and shared responsibility, has not been recognized. This theoretical work is impelled to fathom the synergistic effect of narrative psychology and community participation in supporting pro-conservation attitudes and behavior among coastal residents. The conceptual-analytical framework, which serves as a method, is of mixed nature as it involves the aspects of environmental psychology, social learning theory, and community-based conservation. Illustrative data were modeled to investigate the correlation between emotional engagement and conservation behavior. One conceptual figure, two comparative tables, and one correlational plot were utilized to support the correlation. The findings demonstrate that emotional engagement and behavioral participation are very strongly positively correlated (r = 0.94); thus, the result shows that empathetic stories and a joint activity led to quantifiable positive changes in habitat restoration, species protection, and sustainable aquatic activities. Psychological narration and local sharing of knowledge were identified as the primary mediators between awareness and behavior change. This research work may find its implementation in educational programs, NGO interventions, and policy-based community models that involve psychological knowledge in the development of aquatic conservation programs. It is such a construct that will become the engine of an ecologically sustainable community-based aquatic conservation that will emerge through the combination of narrative-based motivation and the involvement of grassroots, which enhances affective attachment and ecological custodianship, and will also deliver a long-lasting community-based aquatic conservation. Conservation.

Keywords: Aquatic conservation, Environmental psychology, Community engagement, Emotional narratives, Behavioral change, Sustainability