In the southern United States, female forest landowners (FeFLs) are an important stakeholder group as they make up 27% (about 450,000) of family forest landowners and hold 21% (about 30 million acres) of the total forestlands. Despite FeFLs' increasing role in forestry, they are less actively involved in forest management than male forest landowners. This could be attributed to a general lack of understanding about gender-based training needs in sustainable forest management. In this context, we surveyed 246 forest landowners in Georgia, a major forestry state in the United States, to gauge the levels of perceived knowledge and interest in learning about 12 forest management topics. We determined the competency gaps in forest management using the Borich's Needs Assessment Model. Our results indicate that the priority topics of training needs were consistent regardless of the landowners' forest management objective. Gender-based disparities highlighted that FeFLs had a significantly lower perceived knowledge level across 11 out of 12 topics than their male counterparts. Further, FeFLs required training in all 12 topics of forest management. The top five priority topics, in order, were tree disease management, forest insect pest management, timber taxes, nuisance wildlife management, and environmental education. To bolster the competency and capacity of FeFLs in sustainable forest management, we suggest implementing targeted training, encouraging peer-to-peer learning, and elevating female forestry professionals in Georgia and other states in the region.

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男性和女性家庭林地所有者的培训需求是否不同？美国佐治亚州的案例研究

在美国南部，女性林地所有者 (FeFL) 是一个重要的利益相关群体，因为她们占家庭林地所有者的 27%（约 45 万），并拥有林地总面积的 21%（约 3000 万英亩）。尽管 FeFL 在林业中的作用日益增强，但与男性林地所有者相比，她们对森林管理的积极参与程度较低。这可能是由于普遍缺乏对可持续森林管理中基于性别的培训需求的了解。在此背景下，我们对美国主要林业州佐治亚州的 246 名林地所有者进行了调查，以衡量他们对 12 个森林管理主题的认知程度和兴趣程度。我们使用博里奇需求评估模型确定了森林管理方面的能力差距。我们的结果表明，无论土地所有者的森林管理目标如何，培训需求的优先主题都是一致的。基于性别的差异凸显出，FeFL 在 12 个主题中的 11 个主题上的感知知识水平明显低于男性同行。此外，FeFL 需要对所有 12 个森林管理主题进行培训。前五个优先主题依次是树木病害管理、森林虫害管理、木材税、滋扰野生动物管理和环境教育。为了增强 FeFL 在可持续森林管理方面的能力和能力，我们建议在佐治亚州和该地区其他州实施有针对性的培训，鼓励同行学习并提升女性林业专业人员的水平。