DIFFERENTIATE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY, ECOLITERACY AND

ECOLOGICAL LITERACY

Environmental Literacy encompasses experiences, understanding and action. While

knowledge and understanding are important components of environmentally literate citizens, the
key is connecting what we know and what we do. Environmental literacy is an individual's
understanding of how the way we gather resources affects our local surroundings and the globe at
large. It is critical for pupils to understand that our resources can be depleted and that our efforts
to access those resources have a global impact on our ecosystem. Understanding the natural
environment and how human activity affects it is critical for making educated decisions that
influence the environment and human health today and in the future. In the other hand Ecoliteracy
is the ability to understand the organization of natural systems and the processes that maintain the
healthy functioning of living systems and sustain life on Earth. An ecologically literate person is
able to apply this understanding to the design and organization of our human communities and the
creation of a regenerative culture. Ecoliteracy focuses on increasing our understanding of the
earth's natural and human systems (Barnes, 2013). Although it is defined in various ways by
experts, ecoliteracy has the goal of building an intelligent community necessary for sustainable
development. It draws on the successes--from fewer behavioral problems to higher academic
achievement--that have resulted from the recent educational effort to promote social and emotional
development. It also fosters the knowledge, empathy, and action necessary for practicing
sustainable living. While the Ecological Literacy refers to an individual’s understanding not only
of ecological concepts, but also of his or her place in the ecosystem. Ecological literacy is a form
of transformative education that requires shifts I three related areas: 1 perception, (seeing), 2
conceptions (knowing), and 3 action (doing). The development of ecological literacy plays a
critical role in shaping an individual's attitude toward sustainability and an understanding of how
promoting a sustainable environment relates to fairness in the economic, ecological and social
spheres of society. An ecologically literate society is one that does not degrade the natural
environment on which it depends. Ecological literacy is a significant notion because it lays the
groundwork for an integrated response to environmental issues.