Fostering Leadership and Environmental Conservation Awareness among Mexican Immigrants

The Watsonville sloughs, in southern Santa Cruz County, are some of the largest remaining freshwater marshes on California's central coast. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) is working to protect this marine sanctuary and promote overall environmental conservation. As Watsonville is a predominantly Mexican immigrant community, MBA is developing culturally relevant program in hopes of creating a healthier environment for the Watsonville community.

In helping design targeted conservations programs, Applied Survey Research (ASR) is conducting two surveys. One is a community survey with residents regarding environmental attitudes environment, conservation practices, and perceptions of youth as environmental leaders. ASR is assessing the correlation between respondents' attitudes, ethnicity, and years of residence. Preliminary data revealed 20% of Caucasian compared with 6% of Latino respondents were “very knowledgeable” about Watsonville's natural environment; 45% of Caucasian respondents and only 26% of Latino respondents “strongly” believed they could play a part in keeping the wetlands and coast healthy. These data highlight the need to foster culturally appropriate programs.

A key project strategy involves fostering youth leadership and conservation awareness so that youth bring this knowledge and consciousness to their homes, friends, and communities. The second ASR survey is a self-administered peer-to-peer youth survey, capturing information on ocean conservation, environmental knowledge, behavior, attitudes, raise awareness, and create better conservation programs for youth. This unique methodology of using peers to distribute surveys is believed to create an environment in which youth are more likely to be forthcoming and honest.

Methodology was approved by ASR's Internal Review Board.