Public perceptions of climate and land use drivers of medicinal plant availability in Czech forests: A national survey-based study

Medicinal plants are vital to forest ecosystem services, contributing to biodiversity, public health, and rural livelihoods. In the Czech Republic, the perceived availability of these resources is increasingly threatened by climate change and land use change. This study explores key environmental drivers perceived by the public to affect the availability of medicinal plants and examines forest owners' adoption of management strategies to sustain these resources. Based on a national perception-based survey of 1500 respondents, including 53 forest owners, regression and descriptive statistical methods were employed to examine reported environmental drivers and management strategies. The findings reveal that climate change and excessive chemical use are widely perceived as major stressors associated with the reduced availability of medicinal plants. However, only 45 % of surveyed forest owners reported adopting formal management strategies, leaving substantial forest areas at risk from environmental pressures perceived to threaten medicinal plant resources. Among those implementing measures, forest restoration, organic agriculture, landscape protection, and pest control were the most implemented. Broader conservation schemes such as Natura 2000 were underutilised. These perception-based insights highlight the need for targeted policy interventions, including financial incentives, technical support, and education, to enhance forest owners' implementation of sustainable practices and support the long-term conservation of medicinal plant resources in Czech forests. Engaging the general public through education and participatory conservation efforts is also essential, given their key role in shaping demand and supporting forest protection.