Adaptation, Mitigation or Sequestration? Analyzing Storylines About Climate Change and Forestry in Austrian Print Media

In this work, we analyze storylines about forest functions alongside growing media attention regarding climate change. Using an in-depth content analysis of Austrian print media (2002–2022), we identify storylines and apply a correspondence analysis to explore interlinkages between actors and storylines. We identified six storylines reflecting three thematic divergences: (i) “Climate change is not a problem” versus (ii) “We need climate-resilient forests”; “Climate change mitigation through wood utilization” constituted by (iii) “Direct use” versus (iv) “Cascading use”; and (v) “Only a managed forest is a healthy forest” versus (vi) “Hands-off Forestry”. Actors in the forest-based sector frequently iterate storylines that communicate climate change, along with mitigation, sequestration, or adaptation strategies, to advance their own operations and strategically communicate (mostly EU-level) policies they perceive as unfavorable. Nuanced communication of complex forest management storylines is needed to highlight synergies and bridge polarized debates about forest functions.