Incentivizing climate-smart forestry: Analyzing forest landowners' willingness to accept incentives for extended forest rotation

Increasing forest carbon sequestration through effective forest management is a promising climate change mitigation strategy. One key Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) practice is extending the rotation age of trees, which increases their carbon storage potential. Despite the growing attention and funding for CSF, there is a significant need in understanding forest owners' decision-making and their willingness to adopt these practices, particularly extended rotation. This study aims to determine the willingness to accept (WTA) of forest owners towards the attributes of prolonged rotation programs (i.e., contract duration, payment schedule, incentive amount) and to determine the key drivers and barriers of adoption. A choice experiment approach was used to estimate the WTA of forest owners in South Carolina. Results show that forest owners prefer shorter contracts and annual or staged installment payments. Moreover, financial incentive is the primary driver for program participation, while working with extension associates served as one of the main barriers. The findings could provide valuable insights for policymakers in designing compensation-related policies to increase forest owner participation in CSF programs. • This study determined forest owner preferences towards extended rotation. • Choice experiment was used to assess forest owners' WTA. • Forest owners prefer shorter contracts with annual or staged installment payments. • Financial incentives promote program participation.