Savari Moslem, Khaleghi Bagher
Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran.
Department of Forestry Policy and Economic, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 19;14:1121396. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1121396. eCollection 2023.
Natural forests are the habitat of many plant and animal species and are the main source of genetic reserves. In addition to preserving biodiversity, forests play an important role in the livelihood and income of many indigenous communities. But, in the last few decades, due to the lack of proper management of the beneficiaries, they have been exposed to destruction, so that their protection requires the participation of all members of the society, especially the local people. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to discover the determinant factors on the intention of local communities to protect forests in Iran. An extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) by adding the variables of "risk perception" (RP) and "sense of belonging to place" (SBP) was used as the theoretical framework of the research. This research was done using the questionnaire survey method and with the help of structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population of this study included all the rural communities living in the Arasbaran forests (located in the northwest of Iran). The research findings indicated that the original TPB explains 66.9% of the variance of the behavioral intentions of locals toward forest protection. The three main constructs of the original TPB included attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and subjective norms (SN), all of which had positive effects on the intention of local communities. Most importantly, the extended TPB by including RP and SBP increases the ability of the model to explain the intentions of local communities to forest protection by 11.8%. In this study, the variable of RP was identified as the most important factor, so it is suggested to the policy-makers of this field to increase the RP of local communities in relation to forest destruction using communication media. It is also suggested to promote safe behaviors in these natural areas through developing forest protection organizations and properly training locals on the protection of forest areas.
天然森林是许多动植物物种的栖息地，也是基因储备的主要来源。除了保护生物多样性外，森林在许多土著社区的生计和收入中也发挥着重要作用。但是，在过去几十年里，由于对受益者缺乏适当管理，它们面临着破坏，因此其保护需要社会所有成员的参与，特别是当地居民。因此，本研究的主要目标是发现伊朗当地社区保护森林意愿的决定因素。通过添加“风险感知”（RP）和“地方归属感”（SBP）变量扩展的计划行为理论（TPB）被用作研究的理论框架。本研究采用问卷调查法，并借助结构方程模型（SEM）进行。本研究的统计总体包括居住在阿拉斯巴兰森林（位于伊朗西北部）的所有农村社区。研究结果表明，原始的TPB解释了当地人对森林保护行为意图方差的66.9%。原始TPB的三个主要构成要素包括态度、感知行为控制（PBC）和主观规范（SN），所有这些对当地社区的意愿都有积极影响。最重要的是，通过纳入RP和SBP扩展的TPB将模型解释当地社区森林保护意愿的能力提高了11.8%。在本研究中，RP变量被确定为最重要的因素，因此建议该领域的政策制定者利用传播媒体提高当地社区对森林破坏的风险感知。还建议通过发展森林保护组织并对当地人进行适当的森林保护培训，在这些自然区域推广安全行为。
