Biodiversity and environmental education: A contradiction?

Abstract

The need for the maintenance of biodiversity has become a much-debated environmental concern. However, calling for continued biodiversity exposes one to potential accusations of caring more for the natural environment than for people. This article briefly reviews the development of environmental education and provides an overview of the concepts “biodiversity”, “sustainable development” and “sustainable consumption”. Reasons for maintaining biodiversity while simultaneously allowing for sustainable development and sustainable consumption are considered, but the main purpose of the article is to raise questions about current environmental education practice in South Africa and whether the concern of biodiversity is in actual fact addressed.