Driving climate resilience: citizen attitudes toward agroforestry and their policy implications in the UK.

Agroforestry provides essential ecosystem services while enhancing climate resilience and biodiversity in rural landscapes. Despite a growing body of research on farmers' adoption of agroforestry, much less is known about citizens' attitudes and priorities. Citizen disapproval of agroforestry practices or policies may undermine the legitimacy of these initiatives and impede their long-term implementation. This risk is particularly relevant in countries where agroforestry is being promoted as a national policy priority, such as the UK. We surveyed 1509 UK citizens to examine their attitudes toward agroforestry, explore factors influencing these attitudes, and study how these factors operate across distinct segments of the sample. Overall, participants expressed neutral to positive attitudes toward agroforestry. Benefits associated with climate resilience (wildlife habitat creation, greenhouse gas capture, and flood control) were rated most highly. Negative socio-economic consequences (delayed benefit realization, higher input requirements, and potential stakeholder conflicts) were identified as representing the greatest risks. Structural equation modeling validated a novel hybrid model explaining participants' attitudes toward agroforestry, highlighting three primary drivers: evoked affect, perceived benefits, and the perceived importance of environmental conservation in farming. Latent class analysis identified three distinct citizen groups. The negative impact of perceived risk associated with agroforestry on attitudes was greatest among Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-026-01130-w.