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Both Direct and Vicarious Experiences of Nature Affect Children’s Willingness to Conserve Biodiversity

Author

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  • Masashi Soga

    (Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan)

  • Kevin J. Gaston

    (Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK)

  • Yuichi Yamaura

    (Forestry and Forest Product Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba 305-8687, Japan)

  • Kiyo Kurisu

    (Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan)

  • Keisuke Hanaki

    (Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan)

Abstract

Children are becoming less likely to have direct contact with nature. This ongoing loss of human interactions with nature, the extinction of experience, is viewed as one of the most fundamental obstacles to addressing global environmental challenges. However, the consequences for biodiversity conservation have been examined very little. Here, we conducted a questionnaire survey of elementary schoolchildren and investigated effects of the frequency of direct (participating in nature-based activities) and vicarious experiences of nature (reading books or watching TV programs about nature and talking about nature with parents or friends) on their affective attitudes (individuals’ emotional feelings) toward and willingness to conserve biodiversity. A total of 397 children participated in the surveys in Tokyo. Children’s affective attitudes and willingness to conserve biodiversity were positively associated with the frequency of both direct and vicarious experiences of nature. Path analysis showed that effects of direct and vicarious experiences on children’s willingness to conserve biodiversity were mediated by their affective attitudes. This study demonstrates that children who frequently experience nature are likely to develop greater emotional affinity to and support for protecting biodiversity. We suggest that children should be encouraged to experience nature and be provided with various types of these experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Masashi Soga & Kevin J. Gaston & Yuichi Yamaura & Kiyo Kurisu & Keisuke Hanaki, 2016. "Both Direct and Vicarious Experiences of Nature Affect Children’s Willingness to Conserve Biodiversity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:6:p:529-:d:70759
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joana Roque de Pinho & Clara Grilo & Randall B Boone & Kathleen A Galvin & Jeffrey G Snodgrass, 2014. "Influence of Aesthetic Appreciation of Wildlife Species on Attitudes towards Their Conservation in Kenyan Agropastoralist Communities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-10, February.
    2. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
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    1. Inmaculada Aznar-Díaz & Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena & María-Pilar Cáceres-Reche & Juan-Manuel Trujillo-Torres & José-María Romero-Rodríguez, 2019. "Environmental Attitudes in Trainee Teachers in Primary Education. The Future of Biodiversity Preservation and Environmental Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Zofia Chyleńska & Eliza Rybska & Sylwia Jaskulska & Maciej Błaszak & Barbara Jankowiak, 2022. "How about the Attitudes towards Nature? Analysis of the Nature and Biology Primary School Education Curricula in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Deborah Lefosse & Arjan van Timmeren & Carlo Ratti, 2023. "Biophilia Upscaling: A Systematic Literature Review Based on a Three-Metric Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-34, November.
    4. Lucia Bosone & Raquel Bertoldo, 2022. "The Greater the Contact, the Closer the Threat: The Influence of Contact with Nature on the Social Perception of Biodiversity Loss and the Effectiveness of Conservation Behaviours," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Jonathan P. Reeves & Conor H. D. John & Kevin A. Wood & Phoebe R. Maund, 2021. "A Qualitative Analysis of UK Wetland Visitor Centres as a Health Resource," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-25, August.
    6. Benjamin D. S. Cartwright & Mathew P. White & Theodore J. Clitherow, 2018. "Nearby Nature ‘Buffers’ the Effect of Low Social Connectedness on Adult Subjective Wellbeing over the Last 7 Days," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, June.
    7. Susan L. Prescott & Alan C. Logan, 2016. "Transforming Life: A Broad View of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Concept from an Ecological Justice Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-44, November.
    8. Nicole V. DeVille & Linda Powers Tomasso & Olivia P. Stoddard & Grete E. Wilt & Teresa H. Horton & Kathleen L. Wolf & Eric Brymer & Peter H. Kahn & Peter James, 2021. "Time Spent in Nature Is Associated with Increased Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Francesca Douglas & Kim Beasy & Kate Sollis & Emily J. Flies, 2024. "Online, Experiential Sustainability Education Can Improve Students’ Self-Reported Environmental Attitudes, Behaviours and Wellbeing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Susan L. Prescott & Jeffrey S. Bland, 2020. "Spaceship Earth Revisited: The Co-Benefits of Overcoming Biological Extinction of Experience at the Level of Person, Place and Planet," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Xingping Cao & Junlin Qiu & Leyu Wang & Gefen Zhou, 2022. "An Integrative Model of Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavior Based on the Dual Path of Rational Planning and Embodied Emotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-19, June.

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