This survey was carried out August 22–28, 2019 with a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample comprised 1608 people age 18 or older from 137 localities in 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the number of participants.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE FOREST FIRES THE FOREST FIRES THAT HAPPENED IN SIBERIA AND THE FAR EAST? IF YOU HAVE, HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT THEM? (respondents were given a card with a list of answers and could choose only one answer)
| Aug. 19 | |
| First time hearing about them | 6 |
| Heard about this situation and seriously worried | 55 |
| Heard about this situation and somewhat worried | 28 |
| Heard about this situation and not very worried | 7 |
| Heard about this situation and not worried at all | 4 |
| It is difficult to say | <1 |
WHAT EXACTLY WORRIES YOU ABOUT THE FOREST FIRE SITUATION? (as a percentage of those who heard about them and were worried; open question — respondents name what they were worried about themselves, and the interviewer recorded the answers)
| Aug. 19 | |
| Destruction of the forest/nature | 22 |
| Death of animals | 20 |
| Environment / climate change / pollution of the atmosphere | 17 |
| People’s suffering / people are losing their homes | 17 |
| The inaction of the authorities/government/Putin / fires not being put out / negligence | 17 |
| Corruption / hiding illegal logging / somebody is benefitting / people are starting fires | 12 |
| Economic damages to Russia/the region / loss of resources / many years will be needed to recover | 7 |
| Their scale/spread/regularity | 6 |
| Unsatisfactory work by forestry services / discontinued ranger service / no professionals / no equipment | 4 |
| Frightening / wildfire / dangerous / we live there | 4 |
| The human factor / people are responsible / people are burning the grass / bonfires | 3 |
| Other | 3 |
| Everything about it | 1 |
| Nothing | 2 |
| It is difficult to say / no answer | 3 |
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT WERE THE MAIN REASONS FOR THE SPREAD OF THE FOREST FIRES THIS YEAR? (given to everyone; respondents were given a card with a list of answers and could choose more than one answer; ranked in descending order according to the ‘total sample’ column)
| Total sample | As a percentage of respondents who are somewhat worried | As a percentage of respondents who are not very worried | |
| Desire to hide illegal logging | 51 | 56 | 34 |
| Negligence of the authorities | 44 | 47 | 29 |
| Being careless with fire in the forest | 40 | 41 | 38 |
| Weather conditions, lighting storms | 26 | 26 | 24 |
| The authorities’ lack of desire to put out the fires | 24 | 27 | 14 |
| Reduction in the number of rangers | 22 | 23 | 17 |
| The remoteness of regions where the fires are happening | 19 | 20 | 16 |
| Lack of money to put out the fires | 16 | 17 | 14 |
| Lack of specialized equipment | 14 | 15 | 9 |
| Global climate change | 12 | 12 | 15 |
| Laws that allow people to not put out fires in certain areas | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Deliberate lighting of fires | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Other | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| It is difficult to say | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents. Read the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here.