Investigating different groups’ acceptance of climate-adapted forest management

The project aims to investigate the social underpinnings for acceptance to climate-adapted forest management among different groups in Sweden. Adapting forestry can involve, for example, protecting more forests or using close-to-nature forestry. Further examples include the use of biotechnology that improves plant material to better withstand damage associated with climate change.

Forest management needs to be adapted to the changing climate. Since climate change means an increased risk of damage, the effects of pests and storms, for example, need to be mitigated.

Changes in forest management can contribute to polarization and conflict, for example, between close-to-nature or more intensive forestry methods. Therefore, there is a need to understand the underlying drives for acceptance of climate-adapted forest management. Acceptance comes in various forms from active resistance to pro-active support, with passive resistance and indifference as positions in between.

Researchers have previously studied local conflicts about forest management, but it is still unclear how different social identities and collective processes linked to these identities affect the acceptance of forest management.

The researchers in the project proceed from theory and research on social identities and other collective processes such as social norms and shared goals to improve the understanding of acceptance.

The project consists of three sub-studies. The first study examines the general public’s acceptance of climate-adapted forest management in a questionnaire survey. In addition, collective processes such as social identity, norms and shared goals related to acceptance are studied. The second study has an experimental design and focuses on better understanding causal relationships between collective processes and acceptance. The third study examines private forest owners in a local context to understand their willingness to actively contribute to climate adaptation in the form of landscape planning. Since private forest owners own almost half of Sweden’s productive forest land, this is an important group that is important for the transition.