Study on Sustainability of Shelter Forest Construction and Protection Behavior of Farmers in the Sandstorm Area of Hexi Corridor, China

Abstract

An accurate assessment of farmers’ participation in shelter forest construction and protection behavior is of great practical significance for the renewal and restoration of degraded shelter forests, improvements in the ecological environment, and the sustainable development of agroforestry. This study was based on the theory of planned behavior and structural equation modeling. The cognition and behavior of farmers in typical wind and sand areas of the Hexi Corridor were constructed to measure their participation in the construction and protection of shelter forests from the “cognition-behavior” dimension. The results showed that all three dimensions of farmers’ perceptions had a significant positive effect on farmers’ participation in the construction and protection of shelter forests. The combined path coefficients of the three dimensions were behavioral attitudes (0.337), subjective norms (0.216), and perceived behavioral control (0.170), with farmers’ behavioral attitudes having a more pronounced effect on forest construction and protection behaviors. In the behavioral response to the construction and protection of shelter forests, farmers have a positive attitude toward compensation, management, and pest control, while the response to adjustment pattern, willingness to pay, and tree species replacement is relatively insignificant. It is suggested that the government should increase the publicity of shelter forest protection, improve the ecological compensation and reward and punishment mechanism, improve the management system, and strengthen the training of farmers’ professional knowledge and skills. These measures could increase farmers’ awareness of forest construction and protection to ensure that farmers actively participate in the construction and management of shelter forests.