Abstract
Reconciling the conservation of native forests and agricultural production on rural properties is a complex task that demands systemic and multidisciplinary approaches that include, in addition to the biological aspects of the resources, other socioeconomic, cultural and even psychological aspects. In order to identify and compare the behavioral intention of farmers in the conservation and management of native forests in their rural properties in western Santa Catarina, in this study we applied the Theory of Planned Behavior. We found that the Behavioral Intention of farmers of different production systems, as well as farmers with and without dependence on forest resources native to compose incomes, differ. Differences between groups of farmers regarding the results related to Attitude and Perceived Behavioral Control were consistently associated with socioeconomic and environmental aspects. Results of Subjective Norms indicate that the family is the main reference for farmers, exerting positive pressure for forest conservation.
Keywords
environmental psychology; intention; attitudes; conservation (ecological behavior)
