NRW releases ground-breaking survey highlighting the importance of sea and coast to people in Wales - Natural Resources Wales
NRW releases ground-breaking survey highlighting the importance of sea and coast to people in Wales.
People in Wales believe that visits to the sea and coast support their mental and physical well-being, according to the findings of a survey focussed on people’s relationship and understanding of our oceans.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has worked alongside Defra, the Scottish Government and the Ocean Conservation Trust to develop and distribute the Ocean Literacy survey, focussed on measuring the public’s awareness, attitude, knowledge and behaviour of the Welsh marine environment and the pressures it faces.
Ocean literacy can be described as the understanding of our individual and collective impact on the ocean and its impact on our lives and well-being.
The findings of the second round of the survey are published as part of a 10-year initiative to reconnect people with their marine and coastal environments.
The latest survey results have shown that:
- Around 80% of people in Wales believe visits to the marine environment are good for their mental and physical health (84% and 78% respectively).
- Almost half of the people surveyed believed their lifestyle had no impact on the marine environment
- Over 80% of respondents said that protecting the marine environment is very important or important to them personally (83%)
- The aim is to undertake the survey regularly so that a picture can be built of how ocean literacy is changing over time.