CYPRIOTS have come bottom of the list of EU citizens in a survey on biodiversity, with 84 per cent saying they never heard of it.
Of the 15 per cent who had, less than half knew what it actually meant.
Biodiversity or ‘Biological Diversity’ is the term given to the variety of life on Earth, such as plants, animals and other aspects of nature.
Worldwide, ecosystems are in decline and the biodiversity they harbour, and its loss, impacts on modern living in terms of food, fuel, fibre, quality of air and water, soil fertility and nutrients.
When ecosystems reach the point of no return, the damage is permanent. In the EU, this decline translates into collapsing fish stocks, impoverishment of soil, flood damage, and disappearing wildlife.
The Eurobarometer said biodiversity awareness levels were the highest in Austria and Germany at 74 per cent and 71 per cent respectively. In both countries people not only knew the word, but knew what it meant, the survey said.
There was also a high level of awareness in Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Poland, Finland and Sweden but fewer – around one third – in these countries knew the meaning of the word.
However, “although only 15 per cent of Cypriot respondents had heard of the term biodiversity before they participated in this survey, when the term biodiversity was explained to them and after they thought about the concept and formulated their definition of biodiversity loss, a significantly larger part of the Cypriot respondents, around 42 per cent, felt sufficiently well informed,” the report said.
Once the Cypriots had grasped the concept, they realised, according to the survey, that biodiversity loss was a big problem, with 58 per cent of those polled saying the decline and possible extinction of animal species, natural habitats and ecosystems was a very serious problem in their country.
According to the EU survey, the main causes of biodiversity loss are due to intensive agricultural production systems, overexploitation of forests, oceans, rivers, lakes and soils, construction and development, invasion of alien species, pollution and global climate change.
Respondents were presented with this list of main threats to biodiversity and were asked to select the one that they considered the most important.
“Cypriots were more likely than respondents in other member states to select man-made disasters, such as oil spills or industrial accidents, as the most important cause of biodiversity loss,” it said.
Those polled also said more information would be welcome on the issue, and what they could do to protect biodiversity. One third said they didn’t know what action to take.
