A survey reveals that 67% of Colombians admit to knowing little about the Amazon region, while 73% say that what happens in the region is not important to them.
The survey, conducted by the Gaia Amazon foundation, Etnollano, and the Colombian Bussiness Council for Sustainable Development, aimed to establish what image Colombians have of the rainforest, newspaper El Tiempo reported on Friday.
Of those polled, 96% were aware of the importance of conserving water in the Amazon region, while 90% said that the rainforest contains important natural resources that need to be preserved by the government.
The first things that Colombians think about when the Amazon is mentioned are animals, water, indigenous people, peace, and beauty.
The Amazon covers 6 million square kilometers across eight countries in South America. Some 2,500 species of fish living in the Amazon river, and the rainforest contains more than 1,600 different medical plants.