Sociocultural Profile as a Predictor of Perceived Importance of Forest Ecosystem Services: A Case Study from Poland

Emilia Janeczko, Jan Banaś, Małgorzata Woźnicka, Stanisław Zięba, Katarzyna Utnik Banaś, Krzysztof Janeczko and Jitka Fialova ()
Additional contact information
Emilia Janeczko: Institute of Forest Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Jan Banaś: Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Agriculture in Kraków, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Kraków, Poland
Małgorzata Woźnicka: Institute of Forest Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Stanisław Zięba: Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Agriculture in Kraków, al. 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Kraków, Poland
Katarzyna Utnik Banaś: Department of Management and Economics of Enterprises, University of Agriculture in Kraków, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Krzysztof Janeczko: Institute of Forest Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—WULS, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Jitka Fialova: Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: This paper assesses the priority of forest ecosystem services (FESs) and defines the sociodemographic profile of people who consider particular services to be an essential function of forests. The research material consists of the results of a questionnaire survey conducted on 1402 Polish respondents. Twelve different types of FESs were evaluated, to which respondents assigned relative priority (Ps) on a five-point Likert scale. The significance of differences in the importance of individual FESs was assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA rank test, while a logistic regression model was used to profile respondents in terms of differences in perceptions of a particular FES. Regulating functions were considered the most important (Ps 0.87–0.94), followed by cultural functions (0.79–0.86), while provisioning functions (0.31–0.75) were deemed the least important. During the last decade, the trend in societal demand for FESs was upward. The greatest increase occurred for regulating functions and the lowest for provisioning (in the case of the supply of animal products, demand has actually decreased). Regulating functions are seen as very important by people with higher education, people who are satisfied with their financial status, and women; noise reduction is in particular valued by urban residents. Cultural functions are most valued by those satisfied with their financial status and people over 40. Provisioning functions are perceived as very important primarily by rural residents, often of low financial status, with the provision of animal products being more appreciated by men and the supply of mushrooms and berries by women. The greater appreciation of the importance of regulating and cultural functions (compared to provisioning ESs) suggests that local development planning should emphasize them much more strongly. In turn, identifying and estimating the demand for ecosystem services from the perspective of socioeconomic and demographic stakeholder profiles can provide valuable insight during planning for sustainable forest and ecosystem services.

Keywords: ecosystem services; regulating functions; provisioning functions; respondent profile; societal demand; logistic regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:19:p:14154-:d:1247061

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