Ecology

May survey contained a topic – environment. More than four fifths of respondents agreed that every single attempt to save the environment is important.

37% of respondents take always dangerous waste to special enchosen places. And other 35 % does it often. Same number of respondents sort domestic waste (33% always, 42 % often). A third of respondents take part in activities organized under companies for environment protection such as working groups and revitalisation of nature.

In May survey most of respondents were satisfied with condition of the environment close to their home and in Czech Republic.

In the March survey, 47 % of respondents expressed their contentment with the environment in this country, while the same number - 46 % - were not satisfied. Greater contentment with the environment can be seen in the case of the place where they live – 76 %, while about a quarter of the respondents (23 %) are not satisfied with the environment in their neighbourhood. We also asked the people to which degree they themselves contributed to the protection of the environment with their conduct.

In the March survey, among other things we concentrated on the satisfaction of citizens with the environment in the place where they live. The greatest contentment was recorded for availability of wide open countryside, scoring 86 %. Approximately three quarters of citizens are satisfied with the cleanness of the countryside in their vicinity and quality of drinking water. About two thirds of respondents are content with the air quality and the noise level in their neighbourhood.

In the lasts seven years, about two fifths of respondents have visited protected landscape areas and national parks in the CZ more than once (41 %) and about a third have visited them once (32 %). Information about nature on placards, notice boards or leaflets located in these areas is always read by 26%, and mostly by 57 % of respondents. These respondents predominantly give the quality of information a positive evaluation – only for 26 % is the information too specialised, detailed and incomprehensible.

In the survey implemented in the fist half of October, opinions and standpoints of the population regarding the issues of protected landscape areas and national parks in the CZ were explored for the needs of the Czech ecological Institute. Citizens, with some exceptions, do not doubt the importance of protected landscape areas and national parks for nature protection (97 %). A half of respondents think that villages and towns located in protected areas manage to exploit the opportunities, which these localities offer them; this is for example, the possibility of making a profit from tourism (51 %).

The problems in question are considered by an absolute majority of respondents to be very or quite serious. As the largest threat they see pollution of sources of drinking water and its shortage; moreover the problem of waste cumulating is similarly seen as serious. These phenomena, directly connected with every day life are perceived by 55% - 56% of respondents as extremely important and by another third as considerably important.

Respondents see the behaviour of firms and enterprises towards the environment as definitely the worst (82 % “bad”). It is followed by the situation of sanctioning those harming the environment and the non-ecological behaviour of the population–both are criticised by about three quarters of respondents. Approximately two thirds (68 %) see the extent of logging in this country as excessive. Moreover, almost two thirds (63 %) consider appropriation of natural areas during constructions to be too large.

From the point of view of caring for the environment, citizens value best their local or municipal authorities (56 % well, 27 % badly). Moreover, the work of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic is appreciated (49 % good work, 37 % bad work) as well as the work of ecological organisations as a whole (46 % good work, 26 % bad work). Opinions on the ecological policy of the government are relatively level, with 39 % positive judgments and 43 % negative.