In our latest adaptation report we highlighted that drought is thought to be the leading current and future threat to our nature reserves according to Wildlife Trust employees. Human disturbance, pollution and heatwaves were also high on the list. Work to adapt our reserves to climate change is already underway, and we are motivated to monitor, predict and take action to cope with the impacts of climate change.    

But what do the public think, and is there any difference based on characteristics like age?  
 
In a recent survey we asked 2,203 members of the public what they thought the three biggest current and future threats are to nature in the UK¹. We also asked about people’s confidence in their knowledge of climate change impacts, as well as the actions they can take personally, and the actions communities can take, to adapt to climate change. Our key findings were: 

• Pollution and changes to land use were seen as top current threats to nature across all age groups. Drought is seen as a much lower concern for nature by the public, compared to the views of those working in conservation.   

• Changes to land use, pollution and also flooding were seen as top future threats to nature across all age groups.  

• Across both current and future threats, younger people (aged 16-34) were much more concerned about sea level rise compared to older groups. 

• Confidence in knowledge of climate change impacts and adaptation actions is generally low across all age groups. Confidence was lowest in the 65+ age group and highest in the 25-34 age group.

Biggest threats to nature 

Pollution and changes to land use (e.g. clearing fields to build houses) were seen as the leading current threats to nature by all age groups. When asked to select the three biggest threats, 46% of people selected pollution and 45% selected changes to land use. Drought, which was the leading threat from responses by Wildlife Trust employees, was down the bottom of the rankings, with just 12% of people selecting it as one of the top three threats. The difference here might be because those working on reserves have been perhaps more exposed to the impacts of drought on nature in recent years compared to the public, where it is a more invisible risk. Interestingly, for 16-24 year olds, hunting comes next in the rankings, but it comes much lower down the list for the older age groups for which flooding or habitat fragmentation are more of a worry.  

Changes to land use, pollution and also flooding were thought to be the top future threats to nature. The order varies between age groups but overall, 42% of people selected changes to land use, 41% selected pollution and 36% selected flooding as one of the three biggest threats. Again, drought was less of a concern.  

Across both current and future threats, younger people were much more concerned about sea level rise compared to older groups. 25% of the 16-34 age group chose it as one of the biggest current threats, and 26% selected it as one of the top future threats. This compares to 13% and 17% for those aged 55+. 

Knowledge of climate change impacts 

Overall, those that responded were quite on the fence about whether they know how climate change is likely to impact different parts of the UK. But more people agreed than disagreed across all age groups. Those aged 65+ were generally the least confident age group with 32% agreeing. This compares to 39% of 16-24 year olds, and 46% of 25-34 year olds, agreeing that they know the likely impacts.   

In general, respondents were more confident about whether they know how climate change is likely to impact different business sectors in the UK (e.g. farming, health, finance), but many still answered ‘neutral’. The younger age groups agreed more than the older groups, with 50% of 16-24 year olds and 53% of 25-34 year olds agreeing that they know the likely impacts.  

 Knowledge of actions to adapt 

By ‘adapt’ we are referring to the actions to prepare for, and adjust to, the impacts of climate change – for example, increasing green spaces and vegetation in urban areas to reduce the risks of flooding. 

Overall, most people agreed that they know the actions they can personally take but this was closely followed by neutral. The 65+ age group saw the lowest proportion of people agree that they know what actions they can take, followed by the 45-54 and 16-24 age groups. We see the greatest confidence from the 25-34 age group with over half the respondents agreeing. 
 
Similar overall trends are noticeable for actions that communities can take. However, more 16-24 year olds agreed they had knowledge of community actions compared to personal actions, more so than age groups over 35. Again, we see the greatest confidence in knowledge from the 25-34 age group.  

 So does age affect public views? 

We’re seeing general agreement across age groups in what the biggest threats to nature are, but varying concern between age groups around threats like sea level rise may affect overall public perceptions. The views of younger people may therefore lead to consideration by the Government and others of different threats to nature. 

This survey suggests that there’s quite a bit of uncertainty in people’s knowledge of climate change impacts and adaptation actions regardless of age, but also some interesting differences in the confidence of different age groups between impacts. It seems there’s a widespread need to support people with building knowledge, with certain age groups likely needing more support than others.