Voluntary private land conservation (PLC) is becoming an increasingly important complement to state protected areas around the world. PLC programs can serve as valuable strategies to increase biodiversity on agricultural lands, but their effectiveness depends on high participation rates. Amidst growing concerns regarding scalability and effectiveness of conservation strategies like national parks, researchers and practitioners are looking for new strategies to increase adoption of PLC. This study investigates the demographic, social, and psychological factors associated with participation in three classes of voluntary PLC programs—grant payments, land management agreements, and covenants—and how this relates to landholders’ attitudes toward tree clearing. We compare participation rates between these programs in Queensland and identify the most frequently cited reasons why land managers have or have not participated. Land managers who are more involved in agricultural organizations and whose tree clearing decisions are more influenced by the aesthetic value of trees are more likely to have participated in one or more of these programs. Participation was highly biased toward once-off grant payments, and participation in covenants was lowest of all programs. Although 58% of land managers have never participated, nearly half expressed interest in one or more programs. A lack of program knowledge and perceived losses of autonomy were the most frequently cited barriers to participation. We conclude with recommendations for increasing participation rates and raise important questions that need to be answered in order to promote a PLC culture that effectively curbs ongoing habitat degradation.

中文翻译：

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项目意识、社会资本和对树木的看法影响参与澳大利亚昆士兰州的私人土地保护项目

自愿私人土地保护 (PLC) 正成为世界各地国家保护区日益重要的补充。PLC 计划可以作为增加农田生物多样性的宝贵战略，但其有效性取决于高参与率。随着对国家公园等保护策略的可扩展性和有效性的日益关注，研究人员和从业人员正在寻找新的策略来增加 PLC 的采用。本研究调查了与参与三类自愿 PLC 计划（赠款、土地管理协议和契约）相关的人口、社会和心理因素，以及这与土地所有者对树木清理的态度有何关系。我们比较了昆士兰州这些项目的参与率，并确定了土地管理者参与或未参与的最常引用的原因。更多地参与农业组织并且其树木清理决定更受树木美学价值影响的土地管理者更有可能参与其中一项或多项计划。参与度高度偏向一次性赠款支付，并且在所有计划中参与契约的程度最低。尽管 58% 的土地管理者从未参与过，但近一半的人表示对一个或多个项目感兴趣。项目知识的缺乏和自主权的丧失是最常提到的参与障碍。