Who Cares about Forests and Why? Individual Values Attributed to Forests in a Post-Frontier Region in Amazonia

Abstract

Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests, and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bushmeat could offer a starting point.

Conservation of forest based on a fuelwood substitute as well as considering the cultural and spiritual values: an optimal fuelwood harvest model

“…In fact, forest conservation policies should include and promote such forest values (Agnoletti & Santoro, 2015). On the contrary, ignoring such forest values may erode such value systems and promote deforestation (Torres et al, 2016). The model presented in this study theoretically supports the observation of the above studies.…”

“…Thereby, understanding the role of fuelwood extraction on the forest stock and determinants of fuelwood harvesting remains an essential question for sustainable policy decision making. Moreover, the role of non-monetary forest values like cultural and spiritual values (CSV) on the forest health needs further studies (Agnoletti & Santoro, 2015;Lowman & Sinu, 2017;Torres, Morsello, Parry, & Pardini, 2016). Often forest-dependent communities in developing countries have religious, taboo and myth-based forest values that can be captured by CSV.…”

‘Hey, tree. You are my friend’: Assessing multiple values of nature through letters to trees

“…The majority of the letters we received contained expressions of values. Most values were associated with nonmaterial benefits, which aligns with work that emphasizes the importance of non‐material aspects of human–nature interactions (Fagerholm, Torralba, et al, 2019; Torres et al, 2016). Several letters mentioned multiple interconnected benefits (often material and nonmaterial), which supports previous findings on the intertwined and bundled nature of ecosystem services (Fagerholm, Martín‐López, et al, 2019).…”

“…values. Most values were associated with nonmaterial benefits, which aligns with work that emphasizes the importance of nonmaterial aspects of human-nature interactionsTorres et al, 2016). Several letters mentioned multiple interconnected benefits (often material and nonmaterial), whichsupports previous findings on the intertwined and bundled nature F I G U R E 4 (a) Letter addressees and (b) the presence of questions in letters that did and did not mention values | 423…”

Sustainability of Forest Development in China from the Perspective of the Illegal Logging Trade

“…ILT also affects the sustainability of China's forest development through consumers. The first step is to strengthen legislation and publicity to encourage Chinese consumers of forest products to choose legal forest products for consumption [73]. The second step is to increase the severity of punishment; forest police and market management departments will strictly regulate consumption of wood obtained through ILT.…”