Rural landscape and preservation of natural environment: Opinions and attitudes of examinees resident within Krka river basin

Abstract

This paper includes the presentations of development perspectives of the villages along the right bank of the Krka river that are within, or on the edge of the Krka National park and the results of empirical research of the opinions and attitudes of the local population regarding the preservation and protection of the environment in this area. Using the survey method, we examined the opinions of the adult population of Krka river basin in the rural area of Skradin hinterland. The questions focused on a number of issues regarding preservation and/or threat to the environment. The research is a part of the project "Titius: Krka river basin - heritage and socio-cultural development", which is conducted by the Department of Sociology, University of Split. The results of the survey show that great majority of respondents think that the environment in their region is entirely or mostly preserved, and in the same time more than half of respondents agrees with the statement that the soil is contaminated with artificial additives and that the agricultural products are increasingly less natural, as a result of the technologies used in farming. Also, almost three quarters of the respondents consider that the rivers and water are not polluted, and one quarter argues that the illegal dumps, especially of plastic materials and bulky waste spread everywhere, and that the cars and the local industry have polluted the air in their living area. Attitudes and opinions are discussed in relation to socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and their level of education.