Although a majority of EU citizens had heard of the term biodiversity, only 35% said they also knew what biodiversity meant.
When the term "biodiversity" was explained, a majority of EU citizens were able to define the meaning of "biodiversity loss" in their own words. The general public understood biodiversity loss mostly as a species-focused concept or as a concept related to changes in natural habitats.
A minority of EU citizens felt well informed about the topic of biodiversity loss.
Watching news and documentaries on TV, searching the Internet and reading newspapers and magazines were the three most typical ways of finding out more about biodiversity issues.
When EU citizens were asked about the most important threats to biodiversity, pollution and man-made disasters were given equal weighting in importance.
Twenty-seven percent thought that air and water pollution were the most important causes of biodiversity loss, and the same percentage mentioned man-made disasters, such as oil spills or industrial accidents.
Forty-three percent of respondents reported that biodiversity loss was a very serious problem in their own country.
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