Promoting Pro-Environmental BEEhavior in School. Factors Leading to Eco-Friendly Student Action

Anne-Kathrin Sieg,Daniel Dreesmann

doi:10.3390/su13126598

Anne-Kathrin Sieg, Daniel Dreesmann

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126598

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Jun 9, 2021
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Abstract

Many insects, including numerous species of wild bees, are currently threatened with extinction. Environmental education in schools is a suitable starting point to draw attention to this problem, to raise awareness of biodiversity, and to highlight potential actions to protect wild bees and other insects. This study examined the relationship between pro-environmental behavior intentions and knowledge, attitude, fear, interest, and enjoyment of learning in a school intervention involving hands-on activities with living bumblebees. In total, 188 German 10- to 14-year-old high-school students participated in the project and took care of bumblebee colonies. Environmentally friendly behavioral intentions increased significantly between the pretest and posttest; however, no significant increase was found between the pretest and follow-up test. Bumblebee-friendly, pro-environmental behavior intentions correlated highly with attitude and interest, and correlated with knowledge and learning enjoyment with a medium effect size.

Highlights

Insects are the most species-rich class of animals on our planet [1,2] and because the pollination of plants by insects is essential for terrestrial ecosystems, the loss of pollinators affects the complex ecosystem balance
A principal axis factor analysis (PCA) was conducted on the 19 items of bumblebee-friendly, pro-environmental behavior intentions (Table 2)
The PCA results indicate that the scale of bumblebee-friendly, pro-environmental behavior intentions has no subgroups but consists of only one factor

Summary

Introduction

Insects are the most species-rich class of animals on our planet [1,2] and because the pollination of plants by insects is essential for terrestrial ecosystems, the loss of pollinators affects the complex ecosystem balance. 90% of wildflower species depend at least partly on animal pollination and 75% of the world’s major crops benefit from insect pollination [3,4]. Insect decline is driven by habitat loss, the spread of parasites and diseases, increased pesticide use, climate change, loss of flowering opportunities due to more intensive agricultural land use such as manuring and more frequent mowing, and monocultures. The individual causes of insect decline are mutually dependent [4,5]. To counteract declining crop yields and preserve terrestrial ecosystems, strategies for the protection of pollinating insects and public awareness of their importance must be developed

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Discussion

Conclusion