Nature Awareness Study 2017

Every two years, the Nature Awareness Study documents the importance of Nature and biodiversity in the eyes of citizens. The 2017 study also showed that for people in Germany, nature conservation is an important social task. They expect politicians to commit to it. This can be seen particularly well in the new focus on marine nature conservation.

A large majority of Germans see the littering of the oceans with plastic as a threat to nature conservation and support the establishment of marine protected areas. The vast majority of the more than 2,000 respondents to the current Nature Awareness Study also want stricter rules and laws so that fisheries do more to protect the marine environment. Consumers also want to be able to rely on retailers not offering products from endangered fish species. A large proportion of the population is also in favor of mandatory labeling of animal products that have been fed genetically modified food.