Local residents' attitudes regarding ecological condition and pollution effects on human health and environment - case study of Veliki bački Canal, Vojvodina, Serbia

Due to excessive pollution, Veliki bački Canal (VBC) was turned into an open collection system for wastewater from food industry, farms and settlements. This lead to classification of the canal as a pollution "black spot" in Danube basin. As there is high percentage of residents living alongside the canal, VBC could represent potential health risk. In order to conduct an environmental assessment of the region, local residents' attitudes are being investigated through questionnaire in ten settlements (500 respondents). The results are indicating that local residents perceive the canal as extremely polluted, mainly due to industry and its by-products. Respondents claim that current state of the canal could have harmful effects to their health, as there are frequent reports of oil spills, dead fish and odor. Extremely negative attitude is reported among the residents of Vrbas, where the most is polluted section of the canal. Questionnaire reveals that most of the respondents are willing to participate in actions of cleaning VBC, which indicates high environmental awareness