Introduction

Scientists have been concerned about the impact of human activity on the environment and ecosystems for many years.¹ These concerns have been recognised by people all over the world. For example an American politician, Al Gore, has produced a film about global warming that highlights the impact of climate change (Guggenheim 2006). One of the main effects is upon biodiversity. This film created my concern for environmental issues and is one of the reasons for the choice of topic for this research.

Due to my personal concern, one of the most interesting topics in Global Perspectives has been about the problems of the natural world and falling biodiversity. This is a significant global issue, especially as there has been an increase in the rate of loss of species around the world. A United Nations News Report (2010) highlighted the problem when it concluded that scientific research shows that, ‘unless radical and creative action is taken quickly to conserve the variety of life on Earth, natural systems that support lives and livelihoods are at risk of collapsing.’

A more recent speech by a United Nations official highlights the problem. ‘Human survival depends heavily on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, yet in recent decades, the world has experienced unprecedented biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, undermining the very foundations of life on earth. As 1.2 billion people living in severe poverty depend directly on nature for their basic needs and livelihoods, this needs urgent international attention.’ (Grynspan, R. 2012)

As this is one of the most serious problems facing the global community, this research looks at the problem of declining biodiversity and the need to take action.

Films like Avatar (Cameron, J. 2009) and the media have raised public awareness. Schools are teaching about the issues.² There are local organisations working to improve biodiversity, like the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan. The government is also trying to improve the environment.³

However, in my view, many people are not doing enough individually to respond to declining biodiversity. The focus of this research is therefore upon the reasons why people do not seem to take the problem seriously enough and do not take action to change their lifestyles. If the reasons are known, then perhaps we can work out a way to change people’s attitudes and encourage more people to get involved in making a difference to declining biodiversity.

It is important to state my personal interest in the research as I wanted to know more about how to take individual action to change my own lifestyle because I believe that we have an ethical responsibility to care for the environment. In addition a group of students, including myself, wanted to start an environmental club in school and we needed to know how to encourage others to join and take action.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02