Environmental Attitudes in Northern Cyprus

This article reports the results of an environmental attitude survey in Northern Cyprus in Spring 1994. It was hypothesized that there is a relationship between environmental consciousness and five variables of age, level of education, area of residency (rural or urban), origin (immigrant or nonimmigrant) and sex of the respondent. Membership in an environmental organization, habit of taking one's own shopping bag when going shopping, choosing environmentally friendly aerosols, and reusing empty bottles were taken to be possible indicators of environmental attitudes and behavior among respondents. The study revealed statistically significant relationships between age, education, and area of residency and the practice of taking a shopping bag when shopping. Significant relationships were also found between level of education and gender and buying environmentally friendly aerosols. Similarly, returning empty bottles was associated with area of residence. Since we did not find a statistically significant relationship in most of the cases, however, we conclude that our hypothesis was not confirmed. While respondents were found to be generally aware of environmental problems, most do not make sacrifices to improve the environment. There is also a low level of political activism. While respondents thought the government should solve environmental problems they did not organize politically to make demands on the Government for environmental policies and implementation. It is suggested that these findings are related to the political culture of Northern Cyprus, to its physical and political isolation, and to its historical legacy of domination and colonization. Studies of environmental attitudes and behavior in small states, within the political and cultural context, and where environmental resources are significant and irreplaceable, could contribute significantly to the literature on environmentalism.