Context. Every day in the media there are many stories about the environment and issues like global warming

Every day in the media there are many stories about the environment and issues like global warming. These show that the climate is changing and human beings are probably part of the cause. This has many effects on people and the natural world. Human beings might also be in danger if we do not solve the problem.

One of the main effects upon the natural world is the way that many types of animals, insects and plants are being harmed and are dying out. They are becoming extinct. For example there are types of birds like the pink flamingo of the Nura River Basin in Kazakhstan that are not as common as before. This was stated in a recent newspaper in our city. The reporter also said that animals and plants becoming extinct and being in danger was also a problem in other parts of the world too.

The United Nations has organised a decade of action on biodiversity and there is a special International Day for Biological Diversity being planned for the whole world on 22/5/14. The United Nations has a Red List of very many endangered species across the world. This shows that there is a real problem.

The main causes of declining biodiversity are environmental problems and the effects of intensive farming. Environmental problems are pollution and climate change. The effects of intensive farming are deforestation and loss of habitat. These are well known and some people are trying to do something about them.

However many people do not seem to care about the problem and do nothing to improve the situation. In Global Perspectives we have learnt that international and government organisations are worried – but why do so many people not try to do something themselves? This is what I wanted to find out about in my research.

Aims

This research explores the issue of declining biodiversity because it is such a big problem. I want to do something about the problem for our children in the future. To know what to do I wanted to ask people about what they would be prepared to do and how they would change their lifestyle so there were fewer problems for the environment.

Therefore in this research the main questions to research are:

• What are the main causes and consequences of declining biodiversity?
• How much do people know about declining biodiversity and that it is a problem?
• Are people aware of the causes of declining biodiversity?
• What are people willing to do to stop the problem?

Because I live in Kazakhstan I wanted to find out about the issues here; how the issue would affect me and my future directly. Also about what our people will do to help. That way I can perhaps do something that people will listen to and make a difference. Maybe these ideas can be sent to the government to ask them to take action because the people will be prepared to do them.

Method

Because I wanted to find out about public opinion on biodiversity and how far people in my city would take action or change to stop the problem I decided to use several methods to do the research.

Firstly, I did some background research on the internet to get background information about the topic. This gave me ideas about what to ask people about in the next methods. I looked at the United Nations websites and some from my own country, including the ACBK – Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan.

Secondly, I used a questionnaire to get an idea about how much people were aware of declining biodiversity and environmental problems. The questionnaire was given to 23 people who agreed to take part. The questionnaires were given to people in the main shopping area of my city using a clipboard. The people completed the questionnaire for themselves in writing while I waited.

Lastly I did some unstructured interviews with some people to find out what type of things they would do to help the environment and stop the problem. The people interviewed were mainly from my school because this was the easiest way to get the sample. The interviews were like a conversation around the topic of declining biodiversity with the main focus of the discussion on action to make the situation better. I recorded the interviews and listened to them several times to analyse the results.

When all of the results were obtained I analysed them together and came to a conclusion about the answers to the research questions.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02