Conservation Intentions and Place Attachment among Male and Female Forest Landowners*

Abstract

Forests offer critical social, economic, and ecological benefits. As fifty‐five percent of Georgia's forests are family‐owned, management decisions of these forest landowners have a considerable impact on the state's environment and beyond. So far, little is known about what drives the conservation intentions of forest landowners and how these drivers vary by gender. However, several studies outside the field of forestry have theorized that place attachment predicts pro‐environmental views and behaviors. To test this theory, we surveyed 1,143 family forest landowners in Georgia. Our results show that male landowners report stronger attachments to their forest, except for continuing family legacies which is of greater importance for female landowners. Regression models show that all dimensions of place attachments (dependence, identity, satisfaction, and family legacy) are strong predictors for conservation intentions in males. In contrast, the level of education and only a few dimensions (satisfaction and, to a lesser extent, dependence) of place attachment predict conservation intentions in females. As gender demographics in forest landowners are shifting and environmental degradation is an increasingly pressing concern, this study provides important insights and offers directions for further research for policymakers, researchers, and extension agents.

Redefining Absentee: Towards Understanding Place Attachment and Stewardship in Non-Residential Landowners in Texas, USA

“…The motivations for and obstacles to engagement in stewardship activities among ALs are poorly understood. The emerging evidence suggests that a presence of a residential building [31], a lack of financial dependence on the land [32,33], the desire to be a good neighbor [22], a larger parcel size [34], environmental concern [15], a higher frequency of visits [11], and socio-demographics [14,35] are among the predictors of stewardship. Conversely, barriers include perceived restrictions of conservation programs and implementation costs [11,36], a limited time spent on the land [29], a lack of information [17,22], and distance from the land [28,29].…”

“Do you Know What's Underneath your Feet?”: Underground Landscapes & Place‐Based Risk Perceptions of Proposed Shale Gas Sites in Rural British Communities☆

“…Further, senses of place are closely tied to other processes and relations to place, informing place-making and meaning, place-based identity, place attachment, place at risk and place disruption (Groat 1995;Jacquet and Stedman 2014;Junod et al 2018). In the context of rural studies, sense of place and place attachment research has spanned a variety of socio-environmental relationships, such as conservation (Mook, Goyke, and Dwivedi 2022), land use change (Keske et al 2017), rural amenities and well-being (Brehm, Eisenhauer, and Krannich 2004), views on climate change (Caretta, Rothrock, and Zegre 2022), environmental concern (Armstrong and Stedman 2018) and perceived risks and impacts of energy development (Jacquet and Stedman 2013;Jacquet and Stedman 2014;Junod et al 2018).…”