Many people want to set aside half of Earth as nature (NatGeo)
A new survey of 12,000 adults in 12 countries revealed overwhelming support for conservation, as well as knowledge gaps in subjects like extinction rates.
4 Minute Read
By Erin Waite
Famed biologist E.O. Wilson has argued in recent years that humans should set aside half of Earth as nature, an ambitious proposition to stave off mass extinction and safeguard the bulk of our planet’s biodiversity, including its people.
Now, a new poll reveals Wilson isn’t alone in his thinking. On average, the majority of survey respondents across a dozen countries said more than half of the planet’s land and sea should be protected.
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The survey, a collaboration between the National Geographic Society and Ipsos, polled 12,000 adults in Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Researchers sought to understand how people in these countries—all places where NGS works—value nature and biological diversity, information Baillie says is vital for guiding policymakers and measuring the organization’s long-term impact.
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Concern about extinction was highest among people in Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa—countries with rich biodiversity and some of the world’s greatest and great numbers of species now at risk of extinction. Mexico has the most, with 665 endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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more: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/09/poll-extinction-public-slow-extinction/
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