Appreciating biodiversity: a developmental approach

Earth is facing a rapid change in biodiversity, posing significant threats to human health and ecosystem stability. Concurrently, increased urbanization is causing humans, especially children in urban areas, to grow more disconnected from nature, resulting in a lack of perceptual and learning capabilities in nature-based domains. Early childhood exposure to biodiversity is crucial for fostering awareness and conservation efforts. Successful biodiversity conservation must consider children’s perception, preferences, and valuations of biodiversity. This article reviews literature on three aspects of children’s relationship with biodiversity: their perception of biodiversity, preferences for diverse habitats, and valuation of biodiversity and conservation advocacy. The review emphasizes plant and habitat biodiversity due to their foundational role in ecosystems and relevance to children’s nature experiences. Humans are often thought to have a natural affinity for nature, sometimes termed "biophilia", although this connection does not always translate into children’s environmental awareness or accurate biodiversity perception. Children’s preferences for biodiversity are mixed, with some studies showing a favor for biodiverse environments, while others indicate a preference for less biodiverse, more familiar settings, suggesting that their choices are influenced by a variety of cultural, social, and individual factors. Children’s valuation of biodiversity encompasses intrinsic, instrumental, and relational aspects, with studies indicating that they value biodiversity through their attachment and emotional connections to nature, although their awareness of its broader ecological and economic significance is often limited. The review identifies critical gaps in biodiversity research, emphasizing the need for mixed-methods approaches, the inclusion of younger age groups of children, comparative cross-cultural studies, and a focus on biodiversity as an interconnected system rather than focusing on individual species. Including children’s perspectives is crucial to influencing future conservation attitudes. Addressing lay people’s limited understanding of biodiversity and directly exposing children to biodiversity are also essential for effective valuation and conservation strategies.