Green minds lead to green actions? Studying media literacy’s role in fostering visitors’ environmental behavior in urban forests in Tehran

• Media literacy enhances environmental attitudes among urban forest visitors. • Media access, analysis, and engagement predict pro-environmental behavior. • Media literacy fosters responsibility and concern for urban forest conservation. • Findings support media literacy as a strategy for promoting sustainable urban actions. Urban forests provide essential environmental and social benefits; however, they face significant conservation challenges due to urbanization and environmental degradation. While extensive research has explored the factors influencing pro-environmental behavior, the role of media literacy as a determinant of such behaviors in urban green spaces remains underexplored. This study aims to bridge this research gap by examining the impact of media literacy on environmental attitudes, responsibility, and concern, and how these factors subsequently shape pro-environmental behavior among urban forest visitors. Conducted in Tehran, Iran, this study surveyed 415 urban forest visitors using a structured questionnaire and applied structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships. The findings indicate that all three dimensions of media literacy significantly enhance environmental attitudes, responsibility, and concern, which, in turn, strongly predict pro-environmental behavior. Specifically, media access increases exposure to ecological information, while critical content analysis and engagement foster a deeper understanding and commitment to environmental issues. These results highlight the critical role of media literacy as an indirect driver of pro-environmental behavior, suggesting that informed media engagement can cultivate a more ecologically conscious and proactive public. The study offers theoretical implications for integrating media literacy into behavioral frameworks for urban forest visitors, expanding its relevance within environmental psychology. From a practical perspective, the findings suggest that media literacy initiatives could serve as a strategic tool for promoting urban forest conservation.