Measuring the Rural and Urban Attitudes towards Wetlands Using the New Ecological Paradigm: Setiu Wetlands, Malaysia

Abstract

This study addresses the attitudes of the urban and rural dwellers towards Setiu Wetlands conservation. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale is adopted to measure the degree of environmental concern. A series of factor analysis and regression is applied to analyze the urban-rural attitudes and three factors structure of attitudes to wetland conservation is suggested. The urban-rural residential variable is able to predict in part the overall NEP scores and element of anti-anthropocentrism, where the urban communities are more positive towards wetland conservation. Therefore, outreach efforts are suggested in the rural population.