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

identify common local species, their interest in and ideas about species identification,

and their perceptions of the importance of species identification and biodiversity for

sustainable development. 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 and their preferred learning methods. The student

teachers' ability to identify very common species was low, and only 3 % were able to

identify most of the tested 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 looked upon the

identification of plants and animals as 'important' or 'very important' for citizens today

and for sustainable development. Likewise, they looked upon biodiversity as 'important'

or 'very important' for sustainable development. Our conclusion is that teaching and

learning methods for identification and knowledge of species and for education of

project-based methods in authentic environments.

biodiversity and sustainable development should always include experiential and

People’s knowledge about nature, their interest in nature, their nature experiences, and their values and emotions regarding nature are factors that promote people’s positive views on environmental issues and sustainability. Knowing the variation and patterns in teachers’ and student teachers’ views is an essential step in considering the ways in which sustainability might be interpreted and enacted in schools and in teacher education. The aim of this study is to analyze student teachers’ views on the importance of species and species identification in general and as a part of their professional development regarding their understanding of biodiversity and sustainability. A total of 426 student teachers in Finland, Norway, and Sweden answered a questionnaire consisting of fixed and open-ended questions. Mixed methods were used: t test and analysis of variance for quantitative data and inductive and deductive, model-based content analysis for qualitative data. According to the majority of student teachers (85%), both species identification and biodiversity are important for sustainability; species identification in general was important to 58% of them. Their statements about importance contained mostly ecological views (46%), followed by emotional (17%), educational (16%), and utilitarian (11%) views. The remainder of the student teachers’ statements (10%) contained negativistic or indifferent views. The reasons for the low percentage of educational views are discussed. The implications of the results for teacher education worldwide are emphasized, especially the importance of those teaching methods that have the potential to increase student teachers’ understanding of sustainability.