Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-5xszh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T20:35:26.738Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Biodiversity: Who Knows, Who Cares?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Birut Zemits*
Affiliation:
Charles Darwin University
*
Lecturer, Centre for Access and ESL, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia. Email: birut.zemits@cdu.edu.au

Abstract

Biodiversity is an abstract concept, attracting various responses from different people according to where they have come from and what ecosystems they have been closely linked to. In theory, most people would agree that protecting biodiversity is an important process, but in practice, few people commit to actions on a local level. This paper explores a situation faced in the Northern Territory where environmental educators seek to engage hearts, hands and minds to protect biodiversity but it is difficult to gain commitment given a diverse and transient community such as exists in Darwin. The survey of 175 tertiary students at Charles Darwin University develops insights into how individuals perceive and name local mangrove and savanna ecosystems, and which areas they would want to conserve. Results have implications for local environmental education. Suggestions are made about how awareness of and actions for biodiversity in the Top End could be extended.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ABC News. (2006, 05 3). The Red List. [Television broadast].Google Scholar
Bonyhady, T., & Griffiths, T. (2002). Words for country; Landscape and language in Australia. Sydney: University of NSW Press.Google Scholar
Delbridge, A. (Ed.). (1982). The Macquarie Dictionary. Sydney: Macquarie University Press.Google Scholar
Harmon, D. (2001). On the meaning and moral imperitive of diversity. In Maffi, L. (Ed.), On biocultural diversity; Linking language, knowledge and the environment (pp. 5370). Washington: Smithsonian Institute.Google Scholar
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. (2004). The status of globally threatened species- Executive summary. Retrieved May 10, 2006, from http://www.iucn.org/bookstore/HTML-books/Red%20List%202004/completed/Executive%20Summary.htmlGoogle Scholar
Langton, M., & Rhea, Z. M. (2005). Traditional indigenous biodiversity-related knowledge. In Langton, M. & Nakata, M. (Eds.), Australian Indigenous knowledge and libraries. (pp. 4772). Canberra: Canberra: Australian Academic and Research Libraries.Google Scholar
Northern Territory Education Department. (2000). Northern Territory curriculum frameworks (SOSE and Science). Darwin: Northern Territory Government.Google Scholar
Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory. (2002). Casuarina Coastal Reserve management plan. Darwin.Google Scholar
Plumwood, V. (2002). Decolonising relationships with nature. Philosophy, Activism and Nature, 2, 730.Google Scholar
Read, P. (2000). Belonging: Australians, place and Aboriginal ownership. Sydney: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rose, D. B., D'Amico, S., Daiyi, N., Deveraux, K., Daiyi, M., Ford, L., et al. (2003). Country of the heart: an Indigenous Australian homeland. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.Google Scholar
Seddon, G. (1997). Landprints; reflections on place and landscape. Australia: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, K., Cary, J., & Edgar, R. (1998). Perception of native vegetation in rural landscapes. Melbourne: Dept of Environmental Horticulture and Resource Management.Google Scholar