Biodiversity, i.e., the variety of life on Earth, plays a crucial role in sustaining human life directly by providing ecosystem services like feeding humanity or producing oxygen and indirectly by increasing the resiliency of biosystems toward global changes like climate change. Unfortunately, the growing human activity on Earth has led to a rapidly increasing loss of biodiversity. Given the uttermost importance of biodiversity, it should be very alarming that according to scientific estimates, the rate of biodiversity loss is not just one of the areas of planetary boundaries in which humankind has reached the planet's limits but it is the area where the boundary transgression is the greatest (Rockstörm, 2009). The rate of human-driven biodiversity loss is so high that it is classified as the sixth major extinction event in the geological history of life (Chapin et al., 2000). 

Despite the above-mentioned dangerous trend of biodiversity loss, even current global educational overviews declare that there is a common lack of awareness of the importance of biodiversity. In many cases, biodiversity is still perceived as a mere resource for exploitation (UNESCO, 2022). Fortunately, there are data available that contradict these conclusions. According to the analyses of the European Commission, Europeans' knowledge about biodiversity had increased between 2013 and 2018, and almost two-thirds of the Europeans are aware that human life is based upon biodiversity (European Commission, n.d.).

In light of the importance of biodiversity as a topic and the inconsistencies in the data on public thinking about biodiversity, there is surprisingly little comprehensive research on students' attitudes towards biodiversity. Much of the research on biodiversity among students has not so much focused on attitudes towards biodiversity but on students' knowledge systems and gaps in their knowledge of biodiversity (e.g. Bermudez & Lindemann-Matthies, 2020).

Teenagers are at a crucial stage of personal development where their values and attitudes are shaped. Harnessing their enthusiasm and curiosity for the natural world can have a lasting impact on their environmental consciousness. By instilling a sense of responsibility and appreciation for biodiversity, teenagers can become conservation advocates, influencing current and future generations.

The importance of integrating biodiversity education into the curriculum cannot be overstated. Schools play a pivotal role in shaping teenagers' attitudes toward the environment. Practical field trips, interactive learning modules, and engaging classroom discussions can provide a holistic understanding of biodiversity. These experiences enhance scientific knowledge and instil a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living organisms.

Therefore, the main objective of the presented research is to give an insight into the attitude of Hungarian teenagers toward biodiversity and reveal if participation in a national sustainability education program correlates with more positive attitudes toward biodiversity.

The Sustainability Thematic Week (STW) is a national education for sustainable development (ESD) program available for all Hungarian-speaking students in the Carpathian basin, and it has been annually organised since 2016. STW is announced by the ministry responsible for public education with topics related to the different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) each year. In order to support the schools' ESD work, the organiser of Thematic Week (PontVelem Nonprofit Ltd.) provides lesson plans and projects to schools and invites them to collaborate with organisations and participate in national environmental actions and competitions. The presented research is part of the series of research linked to the STW and aimed to assess school students' and teachers' views on sustainability, targeting Hungarian-speaking students aged 10-21 years old living in the Carpathian Basin. Primary and secondary school students completed an anonymous online questionnaire. The questionnaire was open to every Hungarian-speaking student, and the Educational Authority asked the school to help with the research by encouraging students to fill it out. The questionnaire was also promoted during the Sustainability Thematic Week 2023. In total (n=) 7138 responses from students were included in the analysis. The respondents were in the 10-21 age group, the average of their age (M=) was 14.47 years (SD=2.27 Med=14). The gender ratio was unbalanced, with girls in the majority (boys: 48.5%; girls: 51.5%). The research program 2023 was organised under the ethical permission (2023/264) of the Research Ethics Committee of ELTE Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology. The data were collected using the questionnaire software of Forsense Institute and analysed using the SPSS 28.0 statistic software. To explore students' attitudes towards biodiversity, the following scales were part of the online questionnaire: Attitudes Towards River Works (ATRW) Scale based on House and Fordham (1997) measures the perceived importance of the presence of various natural and artificial elements of environmental and amenity aspects near rivers for respondents to enjoy their time spent at or near those waterside locations. The Plant Attitude Questionnaire (PAQ, Fančovičová and Prokop, 2010) assesses respondents' attitudes towards plants. The Attitudes Towards Animals Scale, based on Driscoll's (1995) questionnaire, measures how likeable students consider eight animals (four mammals and four insects).

Our results reveal a positive general picture of Hungarian students' attitudes towards biodiversity. Rivers are perceived by the respondents rather as plant and animal habitats and as idyllic places of peace and quiet, less as a place of human leisure. There is a significant difference between the mean of natural (M=49.8, SD=10.1, N=6812) and artificial elements (M=31.57, SD=13.74, N=6812) subscales of the ATRW scale (t(6811)=89.07, p<0.001, Cohen d=1.079) There is also a positive general attitude towards plants. The general mean score of attitude toward plants (M=34.99, SD=8.65) is above the neutral level of 30 points (t(7072)=45.50, p<0.001, Cohen d=0.577). Students also have a generally positive attitude towards animals. They like mammals (M=30.16 SD=8.99) more than insects, but even the attitudes scores for insects (M=25.54 SD=9.50) is significantly higher than the neutral level of 20 points (t(6794)=48.05, p<0.001, Cohen d=0.58). From an educational perspective, the most exciting result of our research is, in contradiction to our previous results (Varga et al., 2021), where we found a correlation between STW participation and different aspects of environmental awareness, we did not identify a clear correlation between the participation of STW and attitudes toward biodiversity. The uncertainty in the results is in line with the results of the most comprehensive research on the topic published so far in Hungary, which shows that public education regulations and teaching aids do not allow or support the development of basic biodiversity competence by the time of graduation (Könczey, 2020). In summary, we could state that Hungarian teenagers have positive attitudes toward biodiversity, but these attitudes do not significantly correlate with public education activities.

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