In July 2006 over 400 people were randomly questioned from coastal cities and towns including: Sochi, Novorossijsk and Anapa in Russia; Odessa and Nikolaev in Ukraine; Varna in Bulgaria, Constanta in Romania; Trabzon, Ordu, and Zonguldak in Turkey; and Batumi, Kobuleti, Poti and Grigoleti in Georgia. Those questioned were not selected on the basis of gender, age or occupational considerations; and since the survey was organized through regional environmental NGOs, respondents would almost certainly have had a higher than average level of environmental awareness. Nevertheless, this represents the only recent regional survey of public opinion undertaken on the causes, status and perceived responsibilities for environmental problems of the Black Sea. Some of these results are shown in Fig. 3.24.

Encouragingly, over 90% of all respondents from coastal towns and cities around the Black Sea said the health of the Black Sea was important to them personally, with almost 70% stating that responsibility for the Sea’s problems should be shared by all coastal and Danube countries. Most people felt that protecting the Black Sea was a responsibility that should be shared between national governments (27%) coastal municipalities (26%) and all individuals living along the coast (21%). However, almost a third of people questioned thought the Sea was either completely dead (14%) or the most polluted sea in Europe (19%). Nearly half of respondents (46%) felt it was “only occasionally polluted in certain places”, but only 6% of respondents felt it was healthier than it used to be.

Nearly a quarter of people thought the main barrier to protecting the Black Sea was still a lack of public awareness of the problems and their impacts. Most people felt the factors having the biggest impact on the health of the Black Sea were: pollution from factories (21%), untreated sewerage (13%), rubbish and litter (13%), and the over development of coastal areas (12%). Only 9% of people felt that poor agricultural practices were having a negative impact on the health of the Black Sea.

In the survey only 7% of respondents viewed over-fishing as a leading cause of damage to the Black Sea environment and only 13% said they would consider not buying threatened fish species.

When asked why they thought the health of the Black Sea was important the highest response was because of the need to protect it for future generations (27%), followed by the need to protect marine species (23%). Another 22% of people felt it was important to protect the Sea because of holiday and recreation opportunities. Most people associated the Black Sea with holidays/recreation (34%) and fishing (20%) but, disturbingly, the next highest factor associated with the Black Sea was ‘pollution and litter’ (19%), ahead of marine life (18%).

What do you most associate the Black Sea with?	Is the health of the Black Sea important to you?
Do you think the Black Sea is healthy?	Which countries are the main polluters of the Black Sea?
What are the main causes of damage to the Black Sea?	What are the main barriers to protecting the Black Sea?
Figure 3.24 Public perception of the Black Sea