Attitude and willingness of biodiversity conservation in Chinese university students: Associated factors and the mediation of social support

conservation. Besides, a prominent relationship between attitude and willingness of biodiver- sity conservation has been identified, and social support presented as significant mediating fac- tor in this relationship. Moreover, sex, race, and family residence significantly modified the proportion of mediation by social support. These major findings provide useful information in constructing targeted intervention measures which aiming at promoting biodiversity conser- vation action in Chinese university students. Although the university students that we have surveyed in this study reported generally high level of biodiversity conservation attitude and willingness, analytical results suggest some subpopulations should be focused on for further improvements. For instance, compared with students who majored in forestry or agriculture, students of other majors reported much lower attitude and willingness in biodiversity conservation. In recent years, the concept of “green education”, which integrates environmental education, environmental protection, and sustainable development, has been emphasized and promoted by the Chinese government at different levels of schools, from kindergarten to university [16], which has led to some progress at both the theoretical and practical levels. However, a newly published study revealed that for many universities, the “green education” has been implemented only occasionally and superfi- cially, and this passive implementation can easily result in loss of motivation in learning [17].

Our findings corroborate that, at the national level, curriculum relates to biodiversity conser- vation should be greatly strengthened in Chinese universities, particularly for students who majored outside biology related sciences. As expected, we found that social support played an important role in biodiversity conser- vation of Chinese university students, with increased social support associated with higher level of either attitude or willingness of biodiversity conservation. Although the influence of social support on KAP of sustainability has seldom been discussed in existing literature, numerous studies have been published in supporting the significant connection between social support and attitude and practice of other behaviors. For instance, a higher level of social sup- port was associated with more positive attitudes towards death in older patients on hemodialy- sis [18], more positive the teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education [19]. Aside from this direct influence, we also found that social support presented as a significant mediator in the association between attitude and willingness of biodiversity conservation, especially for social support from classmates and teachers. All the above findings suggest that, for promoting Chi- nese university students’ attitude and willingness toward biodiversity conservation, interven- tion measures which aiming at consolidating social support, particularly social support from classmates and teachers, could be considered. Currently, some effective methods have been

proven effective in enhancing social support. In a 2019 randomized controlled trial of 60 Chi- nese university students, the researchers found that group-based interpersonal psychotherapy, Table 3. Proportion of mediation for different types of social support (SS) in the association between attitude and willingness of biodiversity conservation by differ- ent stratification factors. Stratified by SS (Total) SS (Parents) SS (Teacher) SS (Class) SS (Friends) Sex Male 5.92% 3.95% 5.52% 6.92% 4.65% Female 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Race Han majority 5.17% 3.00% 4.48% 5.45% 4.78% Minorities 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Residence Village 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Township or city 6.29% 3.57% 6.18% 6.28% 5.64% Major Agriculture or forestry 3.59% 0% 4.24% 4.19% 0% Other 4.21% 1.87% 3.78% 4.55% 4.60% https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307510.t003 PLOS ONE Attitude and willingness of bio-conservation in Chinese university students PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307510 July 19, 2024 7 / 9