The role of ICT, human capital and economic growth on sustainable forest management: evidence from panel cointegration and Fourier causality tests

Forests provide a critical role in many ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, soil erosion prevention, land conservation and climate change mitigation. However, forest degradation and deforestation have been increasing globally in recent years, causing serious environmental and social problems. The main objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of information and communication technologies (ICT), human capital (HC) and economic growth on forest degradation and deforestation and to assess the effectiveness of ICT and HC policies in sustainable forest management. For this purpose, data from 28 countries covering the period 1993-2020 were analyzed with Fourier-based panel cointegration and causality tests. The findings show that economic growth increases the footprint of forest products in the long run, whereas ICT and human capital reduce the footprint of forest products. Moreover, a causal relationship from ICT and human capital to forest products footprint was found to be valid in countries with high forest density. On the other hand, a causal relationship from economic growth to forest product footprint was found to hold in countries with relatively low forest density. These results provide important clues for the development of sustainable forest management policies and suggest that promoting ICT and human capital should be part of a sustainable forest management agenda. In this context, it is recommended that policymakers prioritize ICT-based monitoring and warning systems in countries with high forest cover, and it is recommended that they prioritize training and capacity building efforts to develop human capital in countries with low forest cover.