25 June 2015: According to research commissioned by the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), an average of 69% of respondents in nine countries say they have heard of biodiversity, and additional outreach efforts are needed if the world is to reach global targets on biodiversity awareness set under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Since 2009, independent market research companies have surveyed 47,000 consumers in 16 countries for the UEBT Biodiversity Barometer. Results have shown that for 2015, biodiversity awareness is rising among 9,000 people in Brazil, Ecuador, Germany, France, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, UK and the US, however, the research highlights that the rate is not rising fast enough to make a difference to biodiversity conservation efforts.

Speaking on the survey results, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the CBD, said, “As we come to the second half of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, let us all work together to reach out and increase understanding on biodiversity.”

Other important findings of the 2015 Biodiversity Barometer include that: between 2009 and 2015, biodiversity awareness grew from 56% to 64% in Germany, France, UK and the US; in Brazil, biodiversity awareness has fallen slightly since 2010; and that biodiversity is the term given to the variety of life on earth and the natural patterns it forms, but it is often confused with other concepts like organic agriculture, environmental protection, diversity of human races, climate change or environmentally-friendly products and technologies.

In 2016, UEBT will conduct new country research. [CBD News] [UEBT Website]