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Published on July 29, 2007

But the reality is that such issues are not always at the forefront of people's minds.

A survey conducted by a research team from the Economy and Environment Programme for Southeast Asia has revealed that people in Asia give relatively low priority to environmental protection, even though they consider environmental problems important issues, said Assoc Prof Orapan NabangchangSrisawalak of the research team.

The study, which began in 2005, was conducted in China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Altogether 3,680 respondents participated in the survey. They were randomly selected from all administrative districts in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bangkok and Davao City.

The study results show that only in Beijing does the environment appear among people's top three concerns. While the environment does not feature as an overall priority concern, more than 70 per cent of respondents in all four countries agree that environmental problems are not properly taken care of, said Orapan.

The research team found that people gave more attention to public policy issues like economic problems, poverty, education, health, crime, violence, inequality, good governance, infrastructure, terrorism and relations with other countries.

Among environmental issues, only three are of major concern: air pollution, deforestation and traffic congestion.

"There are few surprises. It appears that people are primarily concerned with environmental problems that affect their daily lives," she added.

The study found that an individual might be concerned about animals in general or a specific species, but without taking any action to prevent its extinction. People assume that someone else will, or should, solve the problem.

The results of the survey show that even though 57 to 65 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that it was everyone's duty to preserve plants and animals, only 4 per cent in Davao City thought that governments should raise taxes for greater protection of endangered species.

The research also surveyed people's opinions about the willingness of local populations to pay for the conservation of endangered species like the marine turtle. Respondents were willing to make only a small compulsory monthly donation (of US$0.02, or just Bt0.67) to help preserve the sea turtle.

Marine and Coastal Resources Department director-general Nisakorn Kositratna said it was not the Asian way to pay more for environmental protection at the expense of one's daily expenditure.

The agency needs to provide more information to people about environmental awareness and ensure that conservation activities are conducted continuously, she said.

Meanwhile Petipong Pungbun Na Ayudhya, permanent secretary of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, said that for endangered species conservation to be effective, it was necessary to fully understand not only the environmental-ecological context, but also the link with human needs.

The increasing demands for natural resources to satisfy human needs and the mounting pressure this poses on the stock of natural resources are the prime factors that upset the balance of ecosystems, he said.

"To appreciate the linkage, the barrier that divides conservation and utilisation of resources must be dismantled - and this is one big hurdle to jump over," he added.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation