Community Leaders’ Knowledge and Perceptions about Biodiversity and Conservation Method in Misamis Oriental, Mindanao, Philippines

The very heart of sustainable growth and the one that ensures life for this changing world is Biodiversity. The study’s main focus was to evaluate the community leaders’ knowledge and perceptions about biodiversity and conservation method in Misamis Oriental, Mindanao, Philippines. The study was conducted in the two cities and twenty three municipalities. The mixed-methods design (cross-sectional descriptive survey) was used in the study. A total of 1,685 assessment data were collected from 1,688 interviewees (male and female). The results showed that more than 50% of the community leaders were found to have above mastery level in their knowledge and had shown positive perception, respectively, regarding biodiversity conservation.  Therefore, many community leaders were able to get the expected change in knowledge and perception about conservation of biodiversity resources. Keywords : biodiversity, conservation, community leaders, perception, resources