Environmental Knowledge and Policy Sustainability: A Study of Pro Environmental Policy Support among the Southeast Nigerian Rural Communities

Abstract

Environmental policy sustainability as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda has appeared as one of the challenges to most developing nations such as Nigeria. This inadvertently has affected (SDG) agenda in Nigeria. Although many scholars have given attention to other dimensions of socio-economic policies/natural environment, the case of environmental policy sustainability has received virtually no attention in some regions such as southeast Nigeria. The study aptly captured the context of human behavioural disposition towards environmental knowledge and policy sustainability among the rural population in southeast Nigeria in the framework of Symbolic Interactionism/Environmental Responsible Behaviour, with the support of survey data. The study involved 1200 respondents from rural communities, while data collected through questionnaire instrument were analyzed using inferential statistics. The findings show strong positive correlation between familiarity with ecological harmony and support to pro public environmental policy (rho= .84, n= 1200, plt;0.01), knowledge of the natural environment and support to pro public environmental policy (rho= .87, n= 1200, plt;0.01), while environmental policy sustainability can be predicted by some crucial socio-demographic factors (plt;.000). By implication, knowledge of the operation of the natural environment and government policy approaches and dimensions should be encouraged among the rural communities in the region.