Exploring the drivers behind women’s intentions towards climate change mitigation through urban forest conservation

Public participation in urban forest conservation has significant potential for climate change mitigation. However, there is limited research specifically addressing women's behavioral intentions towards participating in urban forest conservation for this purpose, despite the increasing recognition of the importance of gender-specific perspectives in climate change mitigation. Understanding women's intentions towards engaging in urban forest conservation is crucial for developing effective strategies to mitigate climate change. This study aims to explore the influencing factors that shape women's intentions towards urban forest conservation as a measure to mitigate climate change. The extended theory of planned behavior serves as the theoretical framework, incorporating climate change awareness and perceived benefits of urban forests for climate change mitigation. A sample of 391 women participated in the study, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire. The results revealed that the original model accounted for 48 % of the variance in women's intentions towards urban forest conservation. By incorporating additional constructs into the extended model, the explanatory power increased to 66 %. Furthermore, the data analysis demonstrated that all variables in both the original and extended models significantly influenced women's intentions for urban forest conservation. In developed model the climate change awareness (ƛ= 0.366), perceived behavioral control (ƛ= 0.256), perceived benefits of urban forests (ƛ= 0.240), subjective norms (ƛ= 0.182), and attitude (ƛ= 0.145), had the most impact, respectively. These findings emphasize the importance of considering psychological factors in promoting women's active involvement in urban forest conservation for effective climate change mitigation. The study has important policy implications, as policymakers and practitioners should prioritize efforts to enhance climate change awareness among women and emphasize the perceived benefits of urban forests in addressing climate change. Further research is warranted to explore behavioral patterns and actual conservation practices among women in diverse cultural and social contexts.