Nature Impact

Denmark

Knowledge development

Danskernes Natursyn – Nature Perception Report 2025

Client

Planetary Responsibility Foundation

Project Description

Danes want more wild nature but disagree on what good nature looks like, while the gap between values and action is wider than often assumed. This is the first edition of a new survey tracking how Danes relate to and act on nature over time.

The Project

Based on a representative survey of 1,009 Danes conducted in June 2025, the report maps how Danes understand, value, and act on nature, and where the gaps are.

Key Findings

Consensus on principles, division on specifics

90% of Danes say good nature in Denmark matters to them, but the population splits almost evenly on whether Denmark lacks it (47% yes, 42% no). Farmland scores only 47% as "good nature," compared with 94% for wetlands and 93% for untouched forest – showing that what counts as nature is genuinely contested.

Knowledge gaps drive behavior more than values

About half of Danes feel sufficiently informed about biodiversity loss; a quarter say they do not. Those who know more are markedly more likely to support rewilding, and nature areas free from human intervention – suggesting that communication, rather than conviction, is a key constraint.

Action stays surface-level

45% have bought or consumed less, 41% have chosen second-hand over new, but only 8% have adjusted pensions or investments and 16% have supported a green political party. Structural engagement remains rare, while Denmark is the EU's fifth-largest consumer of natural resources per capita and recycles only 4% of its material consumption.

Responsibility is broadly assigned, but rarely personal

66% point to parliament and 57% to businesses and consumers, but only 22% include themselves. Yet 57% agree Danish authorities and companies should take responsibility for nature destruction abroad caused by Danish consumption.

Danes surveyed to build the first edition of this nature-perception tracker

say good nature in Denmark matters to them

rate farmland as "good nature," versus 94% for wetlands

include themselves when assigning responsibility for nature loss

Reports

Report

Danish

Download

Report

English

Download

Contact us for more information

Thilde Nørgaard Holm

Partner

+45 20 28 35 85

tnh@upstream.partners

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