What Matters for the Forest Resource Conservation Behavior of the Youth in Northern Uplands, Lao PDR?

The government of Laos has made significant efforts to halt deforestation and promote forest conservation in the Northern Uplands of Laos. However, there is no comprehensive assessment of the initiatives and factors that influence youth involvement in forest resource conservation. Our goal was to find sustainable forest management practices and understand the factors affecting young people's behaviors related to forest conservation. We conducted our study in 3 districts, covering 15 villages. We used multiple regressions to identify the factors influencing sustainable forest management behaviors, involving 330 youths who were systematically and randomly selected to participate in structured interviews. Our results showed that conservation knowledge and recognition are associated with demographic and socioeconomic factors, especially education. Factors related to forest conservation recognition included the amount of information available, gender, monthly income, land ownership, and distance from the forest to home. Most households rely on forest products for their livelihoods. We found that higher levels of education provide people with more job opportunities, which improves their job status and quality of life. Community members who received relevant information were more forward-thinking in their forest management behaviors and willing to contribute to related activities. Providing essential information to young people can help improve sustainable forest management behaviors.