Exploring the interplay of environmental conservation within spirituality and multicultural perspective: insights from a cross-sectional study

Abstract

The need to protect and sustain environmental resources for future generation remains sacrosanct in global sustainability agenda. This study was aimed at exploring the interplay between environmental conservation and spirituality from a multicultural perspective. While studies on “spirituality” have monumentally gained global attention, a growing number of evidence underscore the critical role of spiritual resources available for ensuring environmental stewardship. In this present study, attempt was made to respond to some critical questions: Is there any significant association between spirituality and environmental responsibility? What is the impact of spiritual leadership on environmental conservation? What key messages do spiritual leaders need to prioritize to encourage environmental conservation? And what are some of the spirituality-related predictors of willingness to engage in global environmental conservation efforts among the respondents? To determine this nexus between spirituality and environmentalism, a cross-sectional study design was adopted. Primary data were collected by means of a validated and adapted instrument from various literature searches. Data collected from a sample of 1,438 respondents were entered on Excel spreadsheet and eventually exported on SPSS version 21 for further analysis. Every segment of the instrument used yielded a Cronbach’s alpha reliability test result of no less than 0.70. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistics regression analysis were employed. The findings revealed that majority of respondents expressed a high level of spirituality ( p value < 0.05). Majority (70%) of the respondents believe that everyone has a duty of care toward nature. More than two-third (> 60.0%) would be more inclined to observing environmental conservative measures if their spiritual leaders would continue to give exemplary teachings on environmental conservation. While a few indicators of spirituality yielded direct correlation with the willingness to engage in global environmental conservation efforts, most of the selected indicators reflect willingness. Some of these (predictors) include how often respondents pray, meditate, and fast; caring about people, animals, and the planet; being just happy to be alive; etc. In conclusion, this study reasoned that spirituality could indeed serve as a foundation for environmental conservation campaigns and could reinforce pro-environmental behaviors.

Is Bisphenol a (Bpa) a Public Health Concern? A Cross-Sectional Study of Public Knowledge, Attitude and Risk Perception in Southwestern Part of Nigeria

“…Certainly, the implication of having the majority able to volunteer in the wide dissemination of healthy tips on possible mitigation approaches to BPA exposure would result in a massive awareness on the possible ways to reduce health risk associated with the compound. Positive attitude such as willingness to share safety information about issues of public health concern, and community participation in public health programs are widely considered as positive indicators to achieving a sustainable healthy environment (Omoyajowo et al, 2021, Omoyajowo et al, 2023. Similar study observed similar great attitude in public willingness to co-operate with the government on mitigation efforts towards reducing Microplastic pollution (Alkyildiz et al, 2015, Omoyajowo et al, 2021a.…”

“…Nigeria is Africa's most populous country (Omoyajowo et al, 2023) with a unique climate ranging from arid to humid equatorial, and with a rich deposit of valuable minerals such as crude oil, natural gas, coal, tin, columbite, and gold. This study was conducted in four metropolitan cities of Southwestern States in Nigeria.…”

“…In the second phase, the snowball method was used. The snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where existing study participants recruit future participants from among their acquaintances, like the method in previous study (Omoyajowo et al, 2023). In other words, the same set of volunteers were asked to send direct links to the online survey to friends, families and relatives, colleagues, and randomly selected individuals via emails, and social media, and asked them to respond at their convenience within a stipulated deadline.…”