Pupils’ Nature Experience And Willingness To Protect Wild Animals In Nanning

As a place of interactions between humans and nature and a carrier of biodiversity in urban areas,urban green space is important for achieving sustainable development in urban areas.At present,the research on the support of urban green space for biodiversity conservation mainly focuses on the ecological function of green space.The environmental education function of urban green space is rarely mentioned in the research.In the context of rapid urbanization,urban green space is an important place for residents to establish contact with nature.Giving full play to its environmental education function may help cultivate citizens’ awareness of respecting nature,adapting to nature and protecting nature,and finally realizing harmonious coexistence between man and nature.Biodiversity conservation requires public support.Growing evidence has suggested that childhood nature experience plays an essential role in forming one’s environmental commitment.Yet,the link between nature contact and children’s willingness to conserve wild animals has been examined little,especially for children from developing countries.Thus,we conducted a questionnaire survey of primary school students from 4th to 5th grade in Nanning and investigated their knowledge,likeability of species,and willingness to conserve wild animals,as well as the associations between nature contact(direct and indirect forms)and these outcomes.We expect that these results will help us understand the significance of urban green space as a place for providing nature experience and environmental education and providing suggestions for urban green space planning and biodiversity conservation in urban areas.A total number of 842 valid responses were collected,of which 54.3% of respondents were male students.Pupils’ weekly outdoor playing time(direct nature contact)was 5.43 ± 0.16(mean ± se)hours of the total green spaces,and most respondents(84.3%)reported often or sometimes watching natural programs or reading natural books(indirect nature contact).Results of the linear mixedeffects models(LMMs)showed that willingness to conserve wild animals was positively associated with the direct nature contact frequency(p = 0.006),indirect nature contact frequency(p < 0.001),knowledge of species(p < 0.001),and the likeability of species(p < 0.001).Moreover,the knowledge of species was positively associated with both direct(p < 0.001)and indirect(p < 0.001)nature contact frequency.The likeability of species was also positively associated with the direct(p = 0.015)and indirect(p < 0.001)nature contact frequency.Girls showed higher scores in willingness to conserve wild animals than boys(p <0.001).Based on the listed results,we proposed the following suggestions: 1)Urban planning policies should focus on creating nature-rich cities,providing places for children’s outdoor activities,and fostering their connection with nature.2)Contact with nature is an important way to raise children’s knowledge of wild animals and foster their likeability of wild animals.Therefore,in the construction and management of urban green space,we should pay attention to the role of biodiversity to provide urban children with a rich nature experience.3)Environmental education should be combined with nature practice,so that children can learn wildlife knowledge through various ways and cultivate their love for species.Engaging children with nature will help to enhance children’s appreciation of and concern for nature.This will likely foster environmentalresponsible citizens and support nature conservation in the long run.4)Some species,such as the black orbital toad,have received little attention in conservation.Given their important role in urban ecosystems,strengthening children’s knowledge of these wild animals through environmental education programs will support the conservation of urban biodiversity,the stability of urban ecosystems,as well as the sustainable development in urban areas.