Non-industrial private forest owners' knowledge of and attitudes towards nature conservation

This study examined the knowledge of and attitudes towards nature conservation. A questionnaire enquiring about aspects related to education, land-holdings and attributes was answered by 393 Swedish non-industrial private forest owners. Attendance on the National Board of Forestry's educational programmes, self-estimated knowledge about conservation and knowledge about forest species were all related to a positive attitude towards conservation. Education in forestry was related to knowledge of conservation, but not to the attitude towards it. Dependence on income from the forest, age > 55 yrs and a land-use-related occupation, all indicated a less positive attitude. Compared with men, women were less active owners with less forestry education, but younger women with high formal education had the most positive attitude of all. The results suggest that forest owners should be encouraged to attend regularly updated courses, and that courses should be available for non-active owners on how to put a pro-environmental attitude into practice.