Enhancing Pro-Environmental Behavior for Transforming Environmental Sustainability by Josephat Paul Nkaizirwa

While the human-nature interaction is inevitable, an increasing threat of environmental deterioration has, to a large extent, been accelerated by human activities. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is primarily dependent on the ways we interact and use the world's forests that host most of the terrestrial species. Approximately 31% of the whole global land is covered by forests accounting for their unique contribution to environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, human activities through wildfire, agricultural extension, population increase, and pollution among others, have threatened the conservation efforts. In particular, 18% (8% forest trees, 5% forest animal species, and 5% of fungi) of plants and animals housed in forests have been listed as critically endangered species due to human interferences. Only one-third (34%) of the world forests are naturally regenerated that have not been disturbed by human interferences. Nearly 420 mil. hectares of forest have been converted to other land uses since 1990. In addition, large scale farming has contributed to 40% of tropical deforestation whereas subsistence farming has accounted for another 33%. Of recent, wildfires have cleared 2.7 mil. hectares of vegetation in Australia since 2019, three times higher than the burned area in Amazon (906,000) in the same period. In Sub Saharan Africa, dependence on wood fuel (charcoal & firewood) contributes to the greatest impact of deforestation, in addition to infrastructural development that diminishes habitats for many species. To address these challenges, enhanced pro-environmental behavior and an interdisciplinary approach among researchers are required. However, for decades the majority of researchers in conservation biology have been working in isolation. This presentation discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the intertwined approach of pro-environmental behavior in promoting environmental sustainability.