Survey Shows Majority of Japanese Expect Forests to Prevent Global Warming

The Cabinet Office of Japan released the results of a regularly conducted public opinion survey on forests and life on August 22, 2007. In response to a question asking what respondents think the most valuable role of forests is, 54.7% responded the "prevention of global warming," exceeding "prevention of disasters" at 48.5%, which was consistently the highest since 1980. The third highest was "water resource protection" at 43.8%, followed by "purification of atmosphere and mitigation of noise pollution" at 38.8%.

The percentage of people who answered "prevention of global warming" was high in big cities, while the percentage of people who answered "water resource protection" was high for men, and "purification of atmosphere and mitigation of noise pollution" was high for women. Results of the survey by age group showed that the majority age groups of respondents who chose "prevention of global warming" were in their thirties and forties. For "water resource protection," people in their fifties and sixties were in the majority, and for "purification of atmosphere and mitigation of noise pollution," the majority was in their twenties and thirties.

When asked if they would participate in volunteer work such as clearing underbrush and thinning trees, 54.8% answered "yes" and 43.4% answered "no." Compared to the results of the same survey conducted in December 2003, the rate of persons who wanted to participate went up from 40.7% to 54.8%, and the rate of those who said they didn't want to volunteer went down from 53.1% to 43.4%.

The same questions have been asked in surveys conducted every five years. This time, it was held nationwide from May 24 to June 3. 2007, with 1,827 valid respondents aged 20 years or more being personally interviewed.

http://www.cao.go.jp/index-e.html

Posted: 2008/01/14 10:41:21 AM
Japanese version