Knowledge, Attitudes and Awareness of Pre-Service Teachers on Biodiversity Conservation in Rwanda

This research presents a case study on the knowledge of pre-service teachers of the school of lower secondary education on biodiversity conservation in Rwanda. It critically examines the implication of the level of knowledge on attitudes and behaviors towards biodiversity conservation and the potential implications of a lack of the courses focusing on biodiversity conservation in the school of lower secondary education, and presents empirical data from a survey and group discussions. Results showed that generally the level of knowledge of pre-service teachers on biodiversity conservation is high, and there is positive correlation between knowledge, awareness and attitude, which in turn may contribute to sustainable biodiversity conservation in Rwanda. Research concluded that there should be another research on the side of primary and secondary students in order to verify if the skills of teachers in biodiversity conservation are fully taught to the students. 644 V. NSENGIMANA, O. HABIMANA & V. NGARUKIYE. Benefits from biodiversity to humans are various, and essential services provided to the society includes material goods such as food, timber, medicines, and fiber; as well as various services appreciated to underpin ecological functions such as flood control, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, maintaining hydrological cycles, cleaning water and air, soil formation and soil storage (MEA, 2005), added to the cultural, social, aesthetic and ethical values (Swift et al., 2004), pollination and pest control, carbon sequestration and storage (Hooper et al., 2005; Barton and Pretty, 2010). These functions are appreciated to secure long-term flows of benefits from nature by providing resilience to disturbance and environmental change (Hooper et al., 2005) and other economic and social contributions which are essential to human being (Gallai et al., 2009). Increasing domination of ecosystems by humans is steadily transforming them into poor systems (Vtousek et al., 1997; Sala et al., 2000). Humans have extensively altered the global environment, changing the global biogeochemical cycles, transforming land and enhancing the mobility of biodiversity, while fossil-fuel combustion and deforestation increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Stuart et al., 2000). Changes in biodiversity and its links to ecosystem properties affect the cultural, intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual values that are important to society; in addition to economic impacts related to the reduction of food resources, fuel, structural materials, medicinal or genetic resources as well as abundance of other species that control ecosystem processes, leading to further changes in community composition and vulnerability to invasion (Stuart et al., 2000). The imperative to reduce human impacts on biodiversity has wide political recognition in various countries. There is an increasing array of national, regional, and international policy mechanisms aimed at biodiversity conservation (Rands et al., 2010). Creation of protected areas, species protection and recovery measures for threatened species, ecosystem restoration, ex situ and in situ conservation services, incorporating consideration of biodiversity conservation into management practices in sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries, capture of benefits by local communities, public awareness, communication and education, integration of biodiversity conservation and development are some of the action taken for biodiversity conservation (MEA, 2005) cited among others. Rwanda, like other countries of the Albertine lift namely Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Zambia, has a remarkable variety of ecosystems inhabited by a variety of flora and fauna species (GoR, 2010), with many endemic species. Conservation efforts are based on the creation of protected areas, integration of communities in conservation activities, revenue sharing and establishment of various laws such as the law governing biodiversity (GoR, 2013) and the list of protected animals and plants (GoR, 2008). Biodiversity conservation education has been a priority of the government, and since 2010, Rwanda Environmental management Authority introduces the environmental education in its strategy and action plan for 2010 – 2015, where conserving, preserving and restoring ecosystems as well as protecting biodiversity and ensuring sustainable use of natural resources were given the priority (REMA, 2010). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 645 Besides of efforts in Biodiversity conservation, there is a lack of specific subject about biodiversity conservation in the programs of students of the school of lower secondary education in Rwanda. Consequently, pre-service teachers might not be able to acquire enough skills in biodiversity conservation and may fail to understand what biodiversity conservation is and why we have to conserve. This shall in turn affect sustainable biodiversity conservation, as they shall not be well skilled to teach this subject in primary and secondary education of Rwanda. Therefore, there is a need of study of the level of understanding of pre-service teachers vis-à-vis biodiversity conservation in Rwanda. This study has the aim to measure the level of knowledge, awareness, and attitude of preservice teachers towards biodiversity conservation. The main goal of the research was to contribute to the quality education in Rwanda, while respecting biodiversity conservation strategies.