Environmental Awareness

4.1.2 Environmental Awareness

By!selfYevaluation,!over!half!of!respondents!(54%)!considered!themselves!to!be!very!

environmentally!aware.!Respondents!also!provided!information!about!their!awareness!

of! MPA! status! as! well! as! their! personal! consumer! choices,! which! added! further!

background!to!environmental!awareness.!!

Individuals! with! at! least! one! degree! were! more! likely! to! consider! themselves!

environmentally! aware.! This! is! consistent! with! other! studies! that! reported! on!

environmental!awareness.!In!a!study!of!user!fees!in!the!Philippines,!Arin!and!Kramer!

(2002)! discussed! the! expectation! that! higher! education! may! lead! to! higher!

environmental! awareness! which! was! confirmed! in! a! study! on! WTP! for! dusky! kob!

restocking! where! results! suggested! a! positive! relationship! between! higher! levels! of!

general!education!and!environmental!awareness!(Palmer!and!Snowball,!2009).!!

Fishermen! were! most! likely! to! consider! themselves! very! or! extremely!

environmentally! aware! (88%),! followed! by! scuba! divers! (85%)! and! dolphin! swim!

tourists!(65%).!Because!a!fisherman!or!diver!must!invest!in!equipment!and!education,!

he! or! she! may! be! more! likely! to! take! an! interest! in! the! environment,! particularly! the!

ocean.!This!interest!may!lead!to!a!higher!level!of!environmental!awareness.!In!contrast,!

dolphin!swims!are!not!a!specialized!activity!compared!to!fishing!and!scuba!diving;!even!

individuals! that! cannot! swim! are! able! to! participate! in! the! activity! (with! a! lifejacket).!

Thus! using! the! same! logic,! the! entryYlevel! nature! of! dolphin! swims! may! attract!

individuals!having!their!first!nature!experience!and!who,!therefore,!consider!themselves!

to!be!less!environmentally!aware.!In!total,!42%!of!respondents!were!aware!of!being!in!

an! MPA.! Amongst! fishermen,! 59%! were! aware! of! being! in! an! MPA,! the! highest!

awareness!level!of!the!three!activity!groups!(Figure!4.4).!

! Fishermen,! when! compared! to! the! other! two! activity! groups,! face! more! rules! and!

regulations,!and!often!more!personal!responsibility.!Fishermen,!as!consumptive!users,!

are!the!only!group!allowed!to!operate!from!a!private!boat!within!the!MPA!whereas!both!

scuba!diving!and!dolphin!swims!are!restricted!to!charter!operations.!Therefore,!while!

the! rules! and! regulations! regarding! these! nonYconsumptive! activities! are! the!

responsibility!of!the!operator!to!abide!by!and!pass!on!to!the!individual!as!necessary,!the!

fisherman!must!have!personal!knowledge!of!the!MPA.!As!nonYconsumptive!users,!less!

than! half! of! scuba! divers! and! dolphin! swim! tourists! were! aware! of! being! in! an! MPA,!

with! awareness! levels! at! 41%! and! 35%! respectively.! Amongst! scuba! divers,! this! low!

level!of!awareness!contrasted!with!the!high!percentage!of!individuals!who!considered!

themselves! very! or! extremely! environmentally! aware! as! well! as! with! the! high!

knowledge!(78%)!of!the!current!diver!tax,!discussed!in!section!4.1.3.!!!

Nearly! half! of! all! respondents! (48%)! used! the! South! African! Sustainable! Seafood!

Initiative!(SASSI)!seafood!guide!or!a!comparable!guide.!Considering!that!over!half!of!all!

respondents!(51%)!cited!either!sea!activities!or!abundance!of!sea!life!as!the!main!factor!

for! choosing! the! area! for! a! holiday,! this! could! suggest! a! link! between! consumer!

behaviour!and!action.!!

There!were!notable!differences!in!use!of!the!SASSI!consumer!guide!between!activity!

groups! (Figure! 4.5).! Fishermen! were! the! most! common! users! of! the! SASSI! consumer!

guide!with!80%!using!the!guide.!While!a!slight!majority!of!dolphin!swim!tourists!(52%)!

used!the!guide,!surprisingly,!the!slight!majority!of!divers!(51%)!did!not!use!the!guide!

when!eating!seafood.!Again,!this!result!contrasts!with!scuba!divers’!high!selfYevaluated!

levels! of! environmental! awareness.! In! fact,! these! usage! figures! seem! somewhat! of! a!

contradiction.! Although! fishermen! were! consumptive! users! of! the! MPA,! their! use! of! a!

10%!0%!

20%!30%!

40%!50%!

60%!70%!

Dolphin!Swim! Fishermen! Scuba!Divers!

Frequency.

Accvity.

Figure.4.4.Knowledge!of!MPA!by!aclvity!

Not!aware!of!MPA!

Aware!of!MPA!

seafood!guide!suggests!an!interest!in!sustainability!and!usage!of!the!resource!beyond!

their!holiday.!Conversely,!although!abundance!and!diversity!of!sea!life!was!one!of!the!

top! reasons! scuba! divers! chose! the! area! as! a! dive! location,! half! did! not! refer! to! a!

consumer! guide! when! eating! seafood.! Scuba! divers,! as! nonYconsumptive! users! of! the!

MPA,! were! less! likely! to! use! a! seafood! guide! suggesting! an! incongruous! relationship!

between! the! long! term! sustainability! of! their! activity,! their! level! of! environmental!

awareness!and!their!consumer!choices.!

!

! As!the!group!most!aware!of!the!protected!status!of!the!MPA!and!most!likely!to!use!

the!SASSI!consumer!guide,!fishermen!both!appeared!to!be!and!selfYreported!as!the!most!

environmentally! aware! group.! This! suggests,! at! least! for! this! activity! group,! a!

complementary! relationship! between! selfYranking! of! environmental! awareness,!

knowledge! of! the! MPA! and! consumer! behaviour.! Comparably,! dolphin! tourists! had!

lower!knowledge!of!being!in!an!MPA,!had!a!50%!chance!of!using!the!SASSI!guide!and!

were!less!likely!to!consider!themselves!very!environmentally!aware.!!

A!consumer!seafood!guide!seems!to!be!an!internationally!accepted!concept.!Exactly!

half!of!all!foreign!respondents!indicated!that!they!used!a!comparable!consumer!seafood!

guide! in! their! home! countries! (Figure! 4.6).! OneYthird! of! Mozambicans! indicated! that!

they! used! the! SASSI! guide! as! Mozambique! does! not! offer! an! equivalent! consumer!

seafood!guide.!Excluding!the!11%!of!respondents!that!did!not!provide!a!response!to!the!

question,! 57%! of! South! Africans! reported! using! the! guide.! Although! the! majority! of!

South! Africans! reported! using! the! guide,! it! was! expected! that! more! South! Africans,!

especially!those!living!near!the!coast,!would!use!a!seafood!guide.!This!expectation!came!

from!the!growing!presence!of!SASSI!in!South!Africa.!In!South!Africa,!three!nationwide!

0%!

20%!

40%!

60%!

80%!

100%!

Dolphin!Swim! Fishermen! Scuba!Divers!

Frequency.

Accvity.

Figure.4.5..Use!of!SASSI!guide!by!aclvity!

Doesn't!Use!Guide!

Uses!Guide!

grocery!suppliers!and!two!nationwide!seafood!restaurants!have!public!and!time!bound!

commitments!to!sustainable!seafood!with!most!displaying!and!providing!SASSI!seafood!

guides!in!their!stores!(WWF,!2010).!!

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