Abstract
The impacts of climate change threaten forest ecosystems and the services they provide. Policies and measures to make forests more resilient to climate-change-induced disturbances are needed, but the success of such efforts depends on their acceptance among forest owners and managers. Based on a discrete choice experiment survey among Swiss forest owners and managers in the canton of Bern, we analysed whether respondents prefer (i) proactive over reactive interventions, (ii) advanced/natural regeneration over plantings, (iii) native over non-native tree species, and (iv) the role governmental payment schemes play in these decisions. About one-third of the respondents belong to the class of forest managers and owners that are open to a transition strategy including proactive interventions and non-native tree species. Two-thirds of the forest owners and managers prefer a reactive restoration approach after disturbances and management that relies on native tree species. The amount of financial support plays a decisive role in the willingness of most respondents to accept adaptation measures. These results confirm the feasibility of diversifying the policy support toolbox to enable more proactive climate-adaptive forest management.