Fewer Japanese Interested in Nature: Govt Survey

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese government survey showed Friday that 75.3 pct of respondents are very or somewhat interested in nature, down from 90.6 pct in the previous survey in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the two surveys cannot be compared directly as the survey method changed, an Environment Ministry official said the sharp decline may be because "people had fewer opportunities to interact with nature due to the spread of the novel coronavirus."

The official also mentioned the possibility that people lost emotional capacity owing to financial problems stemming from the pandemic.

The mail survey by the Cabinet Office, conducted from July to August, covered 3,000 people aged 18 or older across the country. Valid answers came from 1,557, or 51.9 pct.

Regarding biodiversity, or the enormous variety of living organisms that together make up the natural world, 72.6 pct of respondents knew the meaning of the term or had heard of the word while not knowing its meaning, up from 51.8 pct in the previous survey.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]