Obstacles to participation in carbon sequestration for nonindustrial private forest landowners in the southern United States: A diffusion of innovations perspective

Abstract

Forest carbon sequestration, resulting in increased carbon storage in forests, is an effective tool for climate change mitigation. Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowner participation is crucial for increasing carbon stocks in the southern United States forests. Carbon sequestration is a relatively new practice, so NIPF landowners are expected to have varied adoption responses depending on their different internal (socioeconomic, financial, and forest structure factors) and external (environmental, governmental policy, and market factors) environments. This study identified major obstacles for NIPF participation in carbon sequestration and grouped landowners into adoption categories with respect to carbon sequestration using the diffusion of innovations model. Principal component analysis was used to identify five major obstacles to participation in carbon sequestration programs: revenue implications, forest characteristics, owner preferences, normative reasons, and understanding. NIPF landowners were grouped into three adoption categories: adopters (18%), majority (60%) and laggards (22%). The adopters, compared to the other categories, were richer, more educated, relatively younger, and owned larger landholdings. These results provide a valuable insight about the adoption behavior of NIPF landowners with respect to climate change mitigation programs in the southern United States. Program planners and outreach professionals should consider these NIPF landowner adoption categories and the role of peer landowners in promoting new programs and policies for developing effective mitigation strategies.