Mobilising environmental awareness through an environmental conservation-based communication model

¹ Department of Communication Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton, Indonesia
² Department of Aquatic Resources Management, Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton, Indonesia
³ Department of Law, Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: ansar.suherman@gmail.com

Abstract

Climate change and environmental degradation on Buton Island require strong public awareness communication. This study develops an environmental conservation-based communication strategy using local wisdom to overcome the failure of standard approaches. A participatory action-based strategy was applied to 150 participants from six communities using a quasi-experimental design (intervention and control groups). Data gathering included the Environmental Awareness Index questionnaire, indepth interviews, participatory observation, and contextual educational material, including local legend modules. The intervention group had a significant rise in EAI score (Δ=26.3 points; p<0.001), notably in environmental practices (Δ=29.5). Women (65%) and older people (58%) participated most, prompted by traditional customs revitalization for conservation. This program cut coastal village plastic trash by 40% in four months, outperforming urban research. According to symbolic ecology theory, although not yet applied in literature, customary hierarchies and cultural symbols reinforce environmental messaging. These findings show that local wisdom-based models improve ecological awareness and socioecological resilience. The policy implications include island-region integration into sustainable tourism and comparable techniques. Further study is needed to test the influence of sustainability and model adaption in varied contexts.