Modelling environmental attitudes of the users of Kilombero valley wetlands, Tanzania
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Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Scientific Research Publishing
Abstract
Development policies have for a long time made it more profitable for people to de-
grade than to conserve environment. The adoption of these economic wide policies
by Africa especially during colonial time and after independence has resulted into
erosion of its communities’ conservation behaviour and attitude. Although many
studies assess environmental attitudes, those focussing on African regions or coun-
tries using New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale are very limited. Such studies
in the African context using NEP scale are very important, simply because many peo-
ple depend on the environment for their livelihood, and in the process they destroy
the world’s valued ecosystems including wetlands. This study is meant to fill in the
gap using Kilombero valley wetlands in Tanzania as a case. The study used Structural
Equation Modelling (SEM) to predict the behaviour of the users based on attitudes,
environmental knowledge and awareness. The findings indicate that users of the
Kilombero wetlands have a generally positive attitude towards the environment, de-
spite a great degree of variability among the study participants. The study shows also
that a certain level of environmental awareness is needed in order to increase peo-
ple’s knowledge about environmental issues and change their environmental atti-
tudes. The NEP scale does not fully fit into the Tanzanian context, thus suggesting
that further research into the adaptation of the scale is needed.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Modelling Environmental Attitudes, Awareness, Knowledge, NEP-Scale