Editorial: Behavioral psychology applications in managing forest ecosystems

Despite advances in silviculture, remote sensing, and ecological modeling, a critical gap in forest management is insufficient attention to the human dimension. Contemporary challenges such as deforestation, forest degradation, and unsustainable resource use are not solely ecological or technical problems; they are fundamentally behavioral (UN-REDD, 2017; Basilicata, 2026). Conventional management approaches often assume that stakeholders respond rationally and predictably to regulations and incentives, whereas growing evidence shows that behavior is shaped by attitudes, beliefs, social norms, risk perceptions, cognitive biases, and contextual factors. Consequently, interventions that overlook these dimensions may fail to achieve their intended outcomes. Behavioral psychology offers valuable theoretical and methodological tools for understanding the drivers of pro-environmental behavior and improving the effectiveness of forest policies and interventions (Silva, 2005; Rau et al., 2022). Across community-based forest management, conservation, forest-based ecotourism, and urban forestry, understanding participation, cooperation, resistance, and stewardship is essential for developing socially viable strategies (Apipoonyanon et al., 2020; Weng et al., 2023). Moreover, forests are embedded in complex socio-economic and cultural contexts in which values, traditions, and identities shape human–nature interactions (Maleknia et al., 2026). Integrating behavioral science with environmental disciplines can therefore move forest management beyond one-size-fits-all solutions toward adaptive and context-sensitive approaches. This Research Topic advances this interdisciplinary perspective by consolidating research at the intersection of behavioral science and forest ecosystem management, emphasizing the human dimension as fundamental to sustainability, equity, resilience, and effective forest governance. The published studies related to this Research Topic are introduced below.

Drawing upon the theory of planned behavior, Mohammadi et al. (a) demonstrated that forest owners' decision-making processes extend beyond purely technical and economic considerations and are profoundly shaped by psychological and social determinants. Notably, social norms emerge as the most influential predictor of participatory behavior, suggesting that engagement in forest management is driven more by perceived social expectations and professional obligations than by individual attitudes alone.

Chen et al. examined how farmers can sustain China's sloping land conversion program by integrating the transtheoretical model with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Using survey data from 612 farmers in Guizhou Province, the study demonstrates that this program is not driven by a single factor, but by configurations of farmers' value perceptions and government regulations. Strong value perception combined with effective regulation emerges as a key condition for sustained conservation behavior. The analysis identifies three pathways from willingness to action and two pathways toward continued behavior, revealing distinct consolidation strategies across implicit-risk, intermittent, and high-risk contexts.

Mohammadi et al. (b) investigated the factors shaping participation intention in sustainable forest management in Czech. The results showed that the effects of the model's components on individuals' behavioral intentions were moderated by their demographic characteristics. Different demographic characteristics also exerted varying effects on these components, highlighting the importance of accounting for demographic heterogeneity when examining individuals' behavioral intentions to participate in forest management.

Triana et al. examined how local communities can engaged in forest carbon sequestration initiatives, focusing on the role of perceived co-benefits and program characteristics in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Using data from 231 households and a multi-method analytical approach, the findings show that capacity-building support and environmental awareness are important drivers of willingness to participate. Program design and management also strongly shape positive attitudes, which in turn translate into greater willingness to engage, while rewards alone are insufficient to change perceptions. The study highlights that long-term success of forest carbon initiatives depends on procedural justice, transparent communication, participatory decision-making, equitable benefit-sharing, and livelihood-oriented capacity.

Zeybek and Gültekin explored how teachers perceive sustainable ecotourism and how these perceptions translate into perceived economic and socio-cultural benefits in Türkiye. Using survey data from 320 teachers, the findings reveal that environmental perceptions represent the strongest driver of both economic and socio-cultural benefit perceptions. Importantly, these relationships vary across gender, marital status, and teaching level, demonstrating that sustainability perceptions are not socially homogeneous. The findings support tailored teacher training, forest-based environmental education, and inclusive ecotourism governance.

Weiwei et al. addressed how ecotourists' perceptions shape their health-driven visitation intentions using health belief model. Based on data from 650 forest visitors in Hainan, China, the findings showed that perceived health benefits are the strongest predictor of visitation intention, while self-efficacy also plays a substantial role. By positioning forests as perceived health assets rather than merely recreational resources, study connected forest management, public health, and ecotourism, offering practical insights for health-oriented tourism and conservation strategies.

Shi et al. drawing on the stimulus–organism–response framework, destination personality theory and data from 785 visitors tried to understand pro-environmental behavior in forest parks. The study demonstrates that visitors' perceptions of park personality foster pro-environmental behavior through self-congruity and place attachment. Findings reveal that psychological pathways are not uniform across personality dimensions, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of visitor responses. The study therefore offers a valuable behavioral perspective for designing forest parks that strengthen emotional connections while simultaneously promoting environmental stewardship and ecological sustainability.

Taken together, the seven contributions to this Research Topic demonstrate that forest-related behavior emerges from the interaction of individual, social, institutional, and contextual factors. At the individual level, environmental perceptions, values, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, self-congruity, and place attachment shape how people perceive and respond to forest-related opportunities and challenges. However, the findings also show that individual motivations alone cannot fully explain sustainable behavior. Social norms and perceived expectations influence participation, while demographic characteristics can modify behavioral relationships. Beyond the individual level, regulations, program design, capacity building, transparent communication, procedural justice, participatory decision-making, and equitable benefit-sharing can determine whether individual willingness translates into sustained engagement. Moreover, differences across populations and psychological pathways highlight the context-dependent nature of forest-related behavior. These studies suggest that behavioral approaches to forest ecosystem management should move beyond an individual-centered perspective toward a multilevel understanding of behavior. Psychological processes remain fundamental, but they are embedded within social relationships, communities, institutions, and forest landscapes (Maleknia, 2026). Effective forest management therefore requires not only changing individual attitudes and intentions, but also creating social and institutional conditions in which sustainable behaviors can emerge, become collectively supported, and endure over time.

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Footnotes

Edited and reviewed by: Manfred J. Lexer, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria