Understanding the public’s perceptions of the importance, management, and conservation of biodiversity

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate how citizens understand and cope with issues related to the management and utility of biodiversity. Simultaneously it explores the motives that lead society to support or take part in actions for biodiversity protection. For this reason, a face-to-face survey of 468 randomly selected respondents was carried out. The sample was stratified to provide sufficient sample sizes to compare the results from the entire coastal zone of the Pagasitic Gulf located in central Greece. The analysis of the research data was performed using a combination of applied research methods such as principal components and cluster analyses and applying the analytic hierarchical process. The results indicate the relative importance of the region to respondents’ perceptions of knowledge and concern about biodiversity. According to the residents surveyed, biodiversity loss will affect Greece largely through the consequences of loss of environmental quality, lessening of heritage values and financial wealth, following the impacts on the world economy, knowledge, and inspiration.