Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere - WBGU

Perception and evaluation E 3.1
117
ment of natural resources have been drawn up, but
not yet implemented to any great extent. In line with
high internal differentiation, the life contexts of
groups and individuals also vary greatly. As a result
of the breakdown of society-wide norm systems, they
are less homogeneous than is the case with traditional
societies.The pluralization of lifestyles (Reusswig,
1994) can be seen in the various attitudes to the
environment and its use. It can be clearly seen in differential
patterns of consumption with respect to
goods, mobility, energy and landscape use. In addition
to the trends towards pluralization, at the same
time in the age of globalization, unifying factors are
taking effect that can lead to a levelling out of
culture-specific differences (‘McDonaldization’).
Another unifying effect is exerted by the environmental
discourse in the media, which gives the different
social groups access to the same information,
information that would normally lack relevance in
terms of the local reference points of their lives.
Without the information from the media most people
would know nothing about the existence of the hole
in the ozone layer or about endangered species
worldwide. This information must be returned to the
subgroups for interpretation and vesting with relevance,
however (WBGU, 2000a). With the discovery
of the environment and the development of an
explicit environmental awareness in the last 30 years,
the relationship with nature is about to be redefined
for most social subsystems and groups. In view of the
technological options available to industrialized societies,
ethical evaluations are a vital element in resolving
this issue (Chapter H).
The following typology of ‘environment-related
mentalities’, the result of a study among a random
German sample (Poferl et al, 1997), illustrates the
plurality of relationships with nature and the environment
as they may apply to western industrialized
countries, but not to developing countries:
• Personal development project: inward orientation,
an alternative lifestyle, and ascetic renunciation
(eg of consumerism) are experienced as personal
enrichment.
• Civil duty: a normative obligation for environmental
protection is perceived, there is a willingness to
act in principle, but major upheavals and radical
steps are not endorsed.
• System or state orientation: the efforts of individuals
are viewed as meaningless, a willingness to act
is not exhibited, arguing that structural barriers
make this futile.
• Indifference: the problem of the environment is
perceived as a normal component of social reality,
but individuals report that they are not personally
affected. Correspondingly, people feel no pressure
to take positive action or to justify actions harmful
to the environment.
• Maintaining the status quo: ecological reorientation
attempts are experienced as a threat to the
established order and are rejected.
E 3.1.4.2
Towards a ‘biospheric perspective’
It is conspicuous that the current research into environmental
awareness has largely ‘forgotten’ the subject
of nature.The perception of nature and the landscape
and the subject of biodiversity scarcely play a
role in the most recent representative surveys conducted
by the German Federal Environmental
Agency. Everyday patterns of consumption and
product use (shopping, waste, energy-saving, car use)
are at the forefront of the national surveys. Only
when recording knowledge about the environment
are people asked which animals are red-listed
(Preisendörfer, 1996, 1998). In the large-scale international
Gallup Health Poll one of the questions concerns
an assessment of environmental quality with
respect to the natural environment (air, water, land,
plants and animals) and the built environment. All
aspects are combined in one question, meaning that
no differentiated information is available (Dunlap,
1994).
The neglect of classic nature themes in public may
be due to the fact that, at first glance, habitat and
species conservation do not contribute to safeguarding
the necessities to sustain human life. Thus far no
connection has been made between maintaining
quality of life and conserving biodiversity. Whether
or not certain insects become extinct or not apparently
has no direct consequences for people’s lives:
the loss cannot be perceived or experienced and it
does not affect people personally. What is happening
is too far away for people to experience it themselves.
Correspondingly, no personal responsibility is felt for
the protection and conservation of natural and landscape
resources; sole charge of these is transferred to
the governments responsible (Karger and Wiedemann,
1994b). The feeling that one is personally
affected, which can, for example, be triggered by
emotional reactions to a specific species, is of central
importance: thus the destruction of far-off regions,
even if it cannot be perceived or experienced
directly, can give rise to a high degree of personal
feeling. Many people follow the deforestation of the
tropical rainforest with great concern because they
fear serious consequences for their own lives resulting
from climate change. However, the extinction of
animal and plant species is evaluated as a symbol of
the state of the environment in general, meaning that