Title: Digital literacy among individual forest owners in Sweden – Is it associated with sustainable management?
Abstract: Digital literacy is envisioned as a booster of sustainability. In the forest sector, digital literate owners are expected to become instrumental in spreading sustainable management. For instance, they can better incorporate up-to-date information readily available on-line into their management plans. Through gathering and analysis of answers provided by a nationally-representative sample of individual forest owners in Sweden, this paper documents that i) only 10% of forest owners are digital literate; and ii) digital literacy is associated with a higher likelihood of observing sustainable management practices but only among individual owners of age 66 to 76 years old. These owners, in general, reside in rural areas, report higher education levels, and use their property for non-commercial purposes. Findings reported in this manuscript rely on indexes of sustainable forest management practices and digital literacy that are calculated based on self-reported information. We discuss implications in terms of how we can increase digital literacy among forest owners and how its association with sustainable management can be strengthened.
CERE is an inter-disciplinary research center in the field of environmental and resource economics and management. The Centre, located at Umeå School of Business and Economics, unites Umeå University (UmU), and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Individually, they are leading Swedish academic institutions providing research strength on issues regarding the husbandry of our environment and natural resources. Together they strengthen the research field even further.
