Knowledge of species, interest in nature, and nature experiences are the factors that best promote interest in and understanding of environmental issues, biodiversity and sustainable life. The aim of this study is to investigate how well student teachers can identify common local species, their interests in and ideas about species identification and about the importance of species identification for biodiversity and sustainability. Totally 456 student teachers for primary schools were tested using an identification test and a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open questions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to get a more holistic view of students’ level of knowledge. The student teachers in Nordic countries identified species reasonably well, while the student teachers in Lithuania identified only up to four species. Experiential learning outdoors was suggested by the majority of students as the most efficient learning method, followed by experiential learning indoors, project work and experimental learning. They regarded the knowledge of species as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for citizens today, for sustainable development and for biodiversity. Our conclusion is that teaching and learning methods for education of biodiversity and sustainable development should always include experiential and project-based methods in authentic environments.