The role of education in biodiversity conservation: Can knowledge and understanding alter locals’ views and attitudes towards ecosystem services?

Abstract

Climate change, human population growth and land use change are among the most important threats to nature and ecosystem services. Local appreciation of ecosystem services and knowledge of how the foundation of these services is affected by local livelihoods are important for the sustainability of natural resources and thus may fundamentally affect human well-being. In this study, we tested how student knowledge, attitudes and views towards ecosystem services and biodiversity changed due to an education programme. We assessed the before and after knowledge, attitudes, and views of 180 level-two secondary school students in the Ngorongoro District, Tanzania. Findings suggested an increased proportion of students could identify ecosystem services after the education programme, with increased knowledge of ecosystem services and their importance being attributed to developing understandings of negative outcomes caused by climate change, human population growth and land use change. The increased awareness of ecosystem services gained via the education programme suggests that education programmes can be an important tool in conservation biology. Therefore, we recommend that education programming dealing with threats to ecosystem services and biodiversity should be included in school curricula, especially for students close to protected areas.