Bequest motive for conservation in timber production communities

The study identifies the existence of a bequest motive, or intergenerational value, closely related with the conservation of forests in poor rural communities with communal forests under logging. A survey with the contingent-valuation question type was applied to the households of two populations living in two contrasting forest communities. Results show that 83 and 71% of head of households declared a willingness to make an altruistic sacrifice for the subsequent enjoyment of their children of this forest resource, measured in different ways. Variables such as age, gender, income, education, and forest type are closely related with the bequest motive, as other literature has found to be the case regarding private forest owners. Differences among communities show that the larger the benefits they obtain from the forest resources they own, the larger the bequest motive.