The Social Side of Biodiversity Loss: A Review of Individual, Collective, and Structural Drivers in Coastal Regions

This literature review investigates how social, cultural, political, and psychological factors contribute to biodiversity loss in coastal ecosystems. While biodiversity decline is often analyzed from ecological or economic perspectives, this review focuses on the societal dimensions that shape environmental attitudes and behaviors. Using a semi-structured approach, we searched Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed studies that address social influences on biodiversity, particularly in coastal contexts. Boolean logic and targeted keywords guided the selection, complemented by snowballing techniques to identify additional relevant literature. From over 600 initial results, 57 studies were included in the final synthesis. The literature spans diverse disciplines, including sociology, political science, environmental psychology, and cultural studies. Although many studies do not explicitly focus on coastal areas, they provide transferable insights into conservation-related behavior and structural drivers of biodiversity pressure. The review identifies thematic clusters and theoretical gaps, particularly regarding underexplored social variables and insufficient attention to multi-level dynamics. Our findings underline the need for stronger integration of societal dimensions into biodiversity research and policy, especially in coastal regions facing complex socio-ecological challenges.