Forest disturbances are expected to increase as a result of climate change. Thus, it is important to increase the resistance of forests by means of climate adaptation. To examine how effective a voluntary governance approach may be to encourage climate adaptation, this study investigates change in the level of adaptation among private forest owners in Sweden based on survey data from 2014 (n = 1482) and 2018 (n = 1251). In addition, the legitimacy of governance from the owners' perspective is examined by analyzing acceptance of different governance modes in 2018. Results reveal that climate adaptation increased over time and this change can be traced to the strengthening of biodiversity values among the owners. Furthermore, the owners displayed high acceptance of voluntarism and were opposed to detailed regulations. Owners with higher levels of climate adaptation displayed higher acceptance of voluntarism than owners with lower levels and this result remain when structural factors (e.g., size of forest) and management orientations (e.g., certification) are controlled for. Yet, also those with lower adaptation levels preferred voluntarism to detailed regulations. The study indicates that climate adaptation has the potential to increase in a context where adaptation is voluntary, and this approach is legitimate to the forest owners. Nevertheless, whether the increase in adaptation is rapid enough and issues of external legitimacy are important to consider.

由于气候变化，森林干扰预计会增加。因此，通过气候适应来增加森林的抵抗力是很重要的。为了检验自愿治理方法在鼓励气候适应方面的有效性，本研究根据 2014 年（n  = 1482）和 2018 年（n = 1251)。此外，通过分析 2018 年对不同治理模式的接受度，从所有者角度检验治理的合法性。结果表明，气候适应随着时间的推移而增加，这种变化可以追溯到所有者中生物多样性价值的加强。此外，业主对自愿主义的接受度很高，反对详细的规定。气候适应水平较高的业主比水平较低的业主表现出更高的自愿接受度，并且在控制结构因素（例如，森林规模）和管理方向（例如，认证）时，这种结果仍然存在。然而，那些适应水平较低的人也更喜欢自愿主义而不是详细的规定。该研究表明，在自愿适应的情况下，气候适应有可能增加，这种方法对森林所有者来说是合法的。然而，适应的增加是否足够快以及外部合法性问题是需要考虑的重要问题。