Titel: 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 är ett inter-disciplinärt forskningscenter inom området miljö och naturresursekonomi i Umeå. Centret, som är lokaliserat vid Handelshögskolan, Umeå Universitet, är ett samarbete mellan Umeå universitet och Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, SLU. Var för sig är universiteten ledande inom området miljö och naturresursekonomi, tillsammans stärks forskningsmiljön ytterligare.
