The scope for reconciling public good and private forestry in the United Kingdom

The nature of private forestry in the UK as an economic activity is changing, with increasing ‘public good’ demands being placed on forest owners, with or without compensation from government. Although the motives for owning woodland are weakly researched, it is evident that amenity and recreational interests rather than formal productive economic activity are a major force in influencing woodland purchase and may well be a dominant force in woodland management over many parts of the UK. Recent research suggests a need for recognition of the high value of the public goods and, in particular, recognition of their high levels of spatial variability, whilst recognising that the public good — private good dualism is an oversimplification of the actual situation. New policy instruments are currently being implemented in various parts of the UK by devolved governments, and their capacity to both remediate market failure and address the needs of forest owners is considered. Their voluntary character and the preferences of forest owners may seriously constrain the optimal delivery of public goods. Further, existing policy instruments may be seen as insufficiently geographically targeted to areas where the greatest social benefits could be anticipated from policy-induced improvements in public good values.     

Factors influencing Norwegian small-scale private forest owners’ ability to meet the political goals

Abstract

Norwegian forest policy has high-level, complex objectives for the products and benefits from the forest, including increased contribution to the climate, preservation of biodiversity, and creation of economic values. In Norway, it is first and foremost small-scale private forest owners who have to deliver on these expanded goals. The article reveals owners’ lack of forestry competence, and elaborates on the role of forestry employees (advisers) in owners’ decision-making processes, be it forestry-competent owners or not. There is, however, a decreased number of advisers in the private and public forest services, implying that forest owners are atomised in the meaning of being alone. This type of individualization and an increasing lack of forestry competence among forest owners are a contradiction. The mismatch is serious for the government and the forestry business because it probably hampers the fulfilment of the political objectives. The article presents six options for meeting the obstacles to goal fulfilment. The article is based on two research projects from the counties of Trøndelag and Hedmark. Data were collected between 2002 and 2007 and include survey, focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, fieldwork and document analysis.     

Practical Application of Multivariant Analysis Techniques to the Forest Management of Active Farmers in the Northwest of Spain

As managers almost exclusive in many worldwide forestry regions, non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners come to play a key role in balanced integrating the variety of forest uses and functions in policies for promoting and revitalising rural areas. In Galicia, a region in the Spanish Northwest, over 67.5% of forestland and 80% of woodland is managed by NIPF owners. Almost 40% of the Galician NIPF owners are agricultural or livestock farmers who manage a total of 169,755 agrarian holdings with woodlands. Although the number of agricultural holdings has dropped significantly over the last 60?years, farmers still constitute a representative section of the NIPF owner population in Galicia. Starting from an initial population of 31,285 active full-time professional farmers in the region, and based on data collected by a personal questionnaire from a sample comprising 4,383 of these professional farmers for the period 1993?C2003, Discriminant Analysis (DA) was used to identify which socioeconomic, territorial and public-political factors were useful in distinguishing, and to what extent, that a certain population of Galician active farmers should opt to own and manage forestland areas within their agrarian holdings. The results suggested that the forestry production capacity for the area in which the agricultural holding is located, the size and the number of plots in the land base, the number of years the farmer has been the owner and the economic yield from the holding over the total family income were key factors in distinguishing between farmers with forestry activity (forestland owners) and farmers with no forestry activity (farmland owners). These findings could be used as a guide for designing, planning, and implementing research and policy measures that could allow NIPF landowners with farming and livestock activity to develop sustainable forestry, as key agents in promoting rural development.     

The Diverse Values and Motivations of Family Forest Owners in the United States: An Analysis of an Open-ended Question in the National Woodland Owner Survey

The number of family forest owners in the USA has increased continuously in recent decades, and the fate of much of US forests lies in the hands of this diverse and dynamic group of people. The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is a recurring and comprehensive national survey of US private forest owners, including family forest owners. The NWOS includes an open-ended question that explores forest owners’ motivations and values related to their woodland. The open-ended question format allows respondents to express their own frame of reference in their own words, rather than respond to predetermined, fixed-response categories of motivations. This paper describes the system of values and motivations that emerged from analysis of responses to the open-ended question, and compares these findings to a closed-ended, fixed-response question also included in the NWOS. Diverse and multidimensional motives were expressed by respondents. Eight broad categories and 37 sub-categories of motives and values emerged from analysis of the open-ended question. The fixed categories of the closed-ended question failed to capture many dimensions of forest owner motivations. A more detailed, qualitative understanding of forest owner motivations and values is needed to provide extension foresters and others who work with family forest owners important insights and help guide public policy related to private forestland. Open-ended survey questions can help provide such understanding.     

The Values and Objectives of Private Forest Owners and Their Influence on Forestry Behaviour: The Implications for Entrepreneurship

There are many factors that determine what forestry activities forest owners carry out in their forest properties and that influence whether forest owners engage in entrepreneurial activity. This paper explores whether the values and objectives of forest owners influence their forestry behaviour and their engagement in entrepreneurial activity. This is done through a review of the literature on private forest owners’ typologies based on owners’ objectives. The review reveals that typologies typically divide forest owners into two main groups. The primary objective of the first group of owners is production (of wood and non-wood goods and services) usually, although not exclusively, so as to generate economic activity. The primary objective of the second group is consumption (of wood and non-wood goods and services). There is a tacit assumption in the studies reviewed that goals and objectives do influence forestry behaviour but few studies have actually assessed whether this is the case. The general finding is that forest owners whose objectives are timber production and who are business-oriented are more likely to manage and harvest their stands. No research focusing on the link between owners’ objective and wider entrepreneurial activity in forests was found.     

The marketing of British hardwoods

This paper considers the paper of the same name written by J.H. Newnham70 years ago, and then outlines the current situationand trends. The management of woodlands is a long-term process,but it is nevertheless disturbing to note that much of the broadleavedwoodland in Britain today is still suffering the same haphazardmanagement Newnham complained of, with high levels of under-managementand a poor growing stock. Newnham also regarded theforest industrywhich utilizes timber from British woodlands as not keepingupto date with new ideas and methods, and not giving consumersthe goods they actually require. There have been many significantadvances in softwood processing during the last 70 years, butthis level of innovation is not evident in the hardwood sector.The importance that we now place on the amenity and environmentalvalue of broadleaved woodland should not prevent managers fromgrowing at least some high-quality trees with a view to theirproviding a contribution towards the costs of management. Thiswill not happen unless there is a robust and concerted effortto manage deer and squirrels in broadleaved woodlands. New marketsfor some traditional products, developments in technology andthe willingness of people to network information may offer awider range of outlets to woodland owners in the future. Thefuture is viewed with some optimism; but so it was by Newnham.     

Woodland Management and Public Good Outputs: Appraising the Trade-offs in English Woodlands

This paper examines the trade-offs between woodland management for timber and public good outputs in English woodlands. Recent evidence suggests that some public good values may be declining as a result of a lack of woodland management. Such under-management has been attributed to the decline in timber values and reduction in the productivity of woodlands and forests for timber products. It is argued that assessing the management needs of woodlands in order to enhance public good outputs presents a complex challenge and often depends on a variety of factors, including location, type of woodland, age, condition, substitutability and ownership motivation. However, in most instances a moderate level of management (whether for timber or otherwise) is likely to be beneficial for public good outputs.

Motives and Incentives for Joining Forest Owner Associations in Estonia

The development of private ownership is an important outcome of structural changes for the whole economy as well as for the forestry sector in Estonia. Cooperation between forest owners has been seen as one possibility for increasing the provision of various forest-related benefits and goods. Yet the extent of cooperation between forest owners is still not at a sufficient level, but the reasons have not been extensively studied. The authors’ aim was to find out the key determinants for forest owners to join a forest owner association and to explore how cooperation between owners could be increased. Survey data were used to divide the respondents into two groups according to whether they were members of forest owners associations or not. It was found that one key aspect is the size of the forest property—association members usually manage larger forest areas than non-members. In addition, the members tend to be more active and consistent in forest management activities than non-members. Also there is potential towards cooperation within non-members as their plans for the future are much more targeted. Although there are limits to voluntary cooperation, a huge potential for Estonian private forest owners could be realised by diversifying forest owner association activities and services to meet the different expectations of forest owners.     

The challenge of information service development for private forest owners: The Estonia and Finland cases

This paper investigates forest ownership objectives and the need for information among Estonian and Finnish private forest owners based on two surveys. The motivation for the analysis is the fragmenting private forest ownership in Europe. The broad lines of ownership objectives are found to be similar in both countries, and can be described under the dimensions of economic objectives, intangible values, and products and activities provided by forests. In both countries, economic and intangible objectives are considered important at the same time. Thus forest owners can be described as multi-objective. The economic objectives are ranked as somewhat more important than non-economic objectives in Estonia, but not in Finland. Estonian forest owners most strongly emphasise information about legal and economic matters, including forest taxation and forest health issues, while Finnish forest owners emphasise information about wood markets and forest taxation. Differences between the two countries may be related to private ownership being relatively new in Estonia. Some generalisations may be drawn for European forest policy. Overall, private forest owners need both information about economic issues and personal advice on how to manage forests with regard to their individual and multiple objectives. Generally, personal advice may be concentrated on the complicated and most important themes, while information can mostly be provided via written or electronic channels. Particularly in countries where private forestry is new, there is a need for personal advice on legislative and economic matters. As a conclusion, it is suggested that efficient allocation of resources and development of information services require regular analysis of private forest ownership, and segmenting private forest owners according to their objectives and information needs.     

Owner mapping for forest scenario modelling — A Lithuanian case study

Ample research on private forest owners (PFOs) has established high heterogeneity in owners' objectives, motivations and management decisions. Such heterogeneity is, however, rarely taken into account in forest scenario modelling. This study, in contrast, conducts a detailed forest owner mapping that feeds into simulations of ecosystem services (ES) under alternative future scenarios. First, we identify four private forest owner types (FOT) – Forest Businessmen, Household Foresters, Passive Forest Lovers, and Ad Hoc Owners through in-depth interviews and qualitative analyses on a case study area in western Lithuania. Next, each forest estate and forest compartment is assigned a FOT by combining the property registry and forest characteristics with opinions of two types of local experts: state forest managers and inspectors from the State Forest Service. Third, a set of forest management (FM) programmes is specified using field interviews and desktop research, FM records, and expert judgement for each forest compartment. Finally, ES provision is projected using a behavioural matrix combining management styles of FOTs with details of FM programmes. We simulate the dynamics of profits from forestry activities, accumulated carbon in live biomass and tree species diversity under a reference scenario without substantial changes; and a policy intervention scenario. The study demonstrates that treating forest owners as a homogenous group overestimates profits from timber and underestimates the provision of the other analysed ES, potentially misinforming policy decisions.     

Innovation Processes in Forest-related Recreation Services: The Role of Public and Private Resources in Different Institutional Backgrounds

This article examines innovation processes in forest recreational services on the basis of case studies in five European countries with differing institutional backgrounds of forest ownership and access rights. The analysis reveals that forest-related recreation services are developed under varying institutional conditions and on public as well as private land. Ideas for innovations in recreational services may come from within but often outside the forestry sector. Financing is provided from public and private sources. Both public and private spheres have important roles in providing natural, human and financial resources and usually a network of public and private actors are involved in innovation processes. Of particular importance are cross-sectoral interactions between forestry and tourism. Greater institutional support is needed for the development of forest-related recreation services because the field is at an early stage of development. It is concluded that support should focus on providing ideas and financial resources for product development and on facilitating cross-sectoral interaction between forestry and tourism actors. A particular need is seen for development of models for durable interaction between land owners and tourism operators on a regional scale.     

Service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry in the structural shifts of forest ownership: challenging the “old” and shaping the “new”

ABSTRACT

Sweden is one of the most forested countries in Europe, and it has one of the highest shares of productive forest. Production in forestry is largely reliant on the private non-industrial forest owners, who own half of the forest land. As in many countries, however, forest ownership is changing towards a higher extent of urban, female or non-forestry-background owners. This poses a challenge for the forestry services sector, mainly forest owners’ associations and companies, but also broadly the sector at large. By exploring the sales and marketing processes, this paper analyses the service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry under changing forest ownership, drawing on an interview study covering all the large actors in the Swedish forestry sector. The study illustrates an increased focus of forestry organizations on services from a strategic and managerial perspective, in customer-oriented relationship development and in value creation and sales processes, specifically in order to manage “new” forest owners and the demand of forest industries. The results highlight the domination of service logics associated with timber production and the challenges for the service market and the provision of diversified services to forest owners.     

Non-industrial private forest owners' willingness to supply forest-based energy wood in the South Savo region in Finland

The consumption of energy wood in Finland has increased dramatically since the early 2000s, and the region of South Savo is a bellwether for its usage across the country. This increase is partly due to the national policy of sustainable energy, region's wealth of forests but is also dependent on non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF) deciding to sell energy wood. In this study, a survey with a structured questionnaire was conducted among the NIPFs in the region of South Savo to enlarge the understanding of their willingness to sell energy wood in the future and adopt new approaches to forestry that involves energy wood thinning as well as their current production of energy wood. Moreover, the factors influencing forest owner's motivations relating to energy wood thinning as well as information needs were analysed with multivariate techniques. The results show that almost half of the forest owners in the South Savo region had not sold energy wood. However, forest owners within the region generally had positive attitudes towards selling small-sized energy wood and forestry methods that involve energy wood thinning. Moreover, forest owners' willingness to sell different types of energy wood varied, depending on their background. The study suggests that the increase in supply of energy wood presumes both intensified extension services for forest owners and markets that are better organised than at the moment. The results may also prove beneficial in informing policy-makers regarding which specific target group(s) to focus on when promoting energy wood sales among NIPFs and which aspects of energy wood harvesting and sales to promote.     

Transformation of environmental recreational goods and services provided by forestry into recreational environmental products

This paper analyses the transformation of public goods and positive externalities provided by forestry, which are defined as Environmental Recreational Goods and Services (ERGS), into marketable private goods and services, which are defined as Recreational Environmental (RE) Products. A questionnaire with the same format was used in the four EU countries participating in the research — Austria, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands — to gather information from 98 actual case studies. The main goal of the paper is the identification of the general paths of transformation. The first part is devoted to the characterisation of the economic nature of public and private goods employing excludability and rivalry criteria. Mixed goods cases are particularly considered as being very relevant for understanding ‘club’ and ‘local’ public goods amongst which many RE-Products must be included. The situation before and after transformation is described and examined, principally in terms of the changes in excludability and rivalry. Paths are then summarised in order to identify some general guidelines to enable the support of the transformation processes under different circumstances, cases and sites. The results of the research demonstrate how these processes are feasible through, as a first step, some changes of institutional factors, followed by new management/marketing approaches: the key for transformation.     

Swedish private forest owners’ perceptions and intentions with respect to adopting exotic tree species

Swedish forest growth can be increased through intensive forestry practices, enabling an increased use of forest biomass for climate-change mitigation. However, the diffusion of such practices depends on the forest owners’ adoption of them. We study Swedish private forest owners’ perceptions and intentions with respect to increasing forest growth by adopting exotic tree species. The results of a mail-in questionnaire survey show that although a majority of forest owners desire increasing forest growth, most owners have only a basic understanding of exotic tree species and a smaller proportion is interested in adopting them. The intention to adopt exotics seems to depend on the perceived performance of the species with respect to the economic aspects of forest management rather than on environmental or recreational concerns. Whereas a knowledge gap among the private forest owners regarding how to increase forest growth is implied, forest owners with higher self-rated knowledge of forestry and exotics have stronger intentions to adopt such species.     

Cooperation in private forestry of post-soviet system: Forest owners’ cooperatives in Lithuania

The current state of cooperation in private forestry in Lithuania is examined, with a focus on the analysis of objectives, organisational structure and the ways forest owners’ cooperatives operate. A postal survey has been used as a main research instrument, the questionnaire consisting of a series of multiplechoice close-ended questions. This paper provides insights into the state forest enterprises and other private companies operating in the private forestry sector, and places forest owners’ cooperatives in a broader context of the private forestry sector. A typical forest owner’s cooperative in Lithuania has up to 10 members and about 20 clients to whom services are provided. The leaders of cooperatives indicate that the optimal number of clients using their services should not exceed 40. The main stated objectives of cooperatives are the provision of services to their members under the most attractive conditions, uniting members, and earning a profit for the members. These activities of cooperatives revolve around timber harvesting and trade. It is concluded that the process of cooperation of private forest owners in Lithuania is rather slow, although positive development can be observed.     

The impact of storm damage on small-scale forest enterprises in the south-west of Germany

Storm damage is considered to be one of the most important risk factors for forestry in Central Europe. At the end of 1999 a centennial storm event hit the south-east of Germany and Switzerland, as well as central and western parts of France, and caused great damage. Forests in Baden-Württemberg were severely affected, with 30 M m³ of timber felled due to storm damage, three times the amount of the normal annual cut. Approximately 5.2 M m³ of the wind-thrown timber was in private forests, of which most were located in the central Black Forest. Smaller shares came from other regions of Baden-Württemberg. The economic damages and strategies of the forest owners were analysed in a multi-dimensional approach, using economic data from long-term accountancy networks, in combination with the results of a qualitative opinion poll amongst private forest owners. A storm coefficient was devised as a suitable indicator for the concerns of owners or ownership classes. The predicted operating income of the private forest owners is related to this coefficient. Cash flow simulations suggest that enterprises with a coefficient of more than 100% suffer from a reduction of their economic base. By combining the results derived from the accountancy networks with findings from the opinion poll it was found that the owners took an active decision towards self-processing and were able to save more than 30 M ￡ by choosing this strategy. State support which was provided in a variety of ways is also identified. A range of programs and institutional support measures mitigated the impact of the storm disaster. The effectiveness and acceptance of these measures by forest owners was confirmed by the results of the opinion poll.     

Possibilities for shadow pricing forestry investments

A comparison is established between the concept of shadow price in linear programming and welfare economics. The shadow price should be used to appraise public forestry investments. In some circumstances, private forestry projects may have to be appraised from society's standpoint requiring shadow pricing also. But if the same forestry projects are looked at by a private individual or a firm, the appraisals will use market prices instead. This last analysis is termed financial analysis and differs from the economic analysis which uses shadow prices and appraises the project from a societal point of view. An example of shadow pricing a forestry project is derived from a cost sharing program evaluation presently investigated in Massachusetts.     

Characterizing the sustainable forestry issue network in the United States

Issue network analysis techniques were applied to the issue of sustainable forestry in the United States to identify potential public and private outcomes for the issue. A quantitative approach based on work by Laumann and Knoke [The Organizational State (1987)] was utilized in conjunction with the Delphi method. Results suggest that the parity in the distribution of influence among network sectors means that moving the issue of sustainable forestry onto the formal policy agenda will require more consensus on problems and solutions than exists at the present time. Accordingly, broad policy actions resulting from the expansion of the issue of sustainable forestry are unlikely in the short-term. However, experts on the Delphi panel anticipate that changes will occur in response to sustainability issues. At the federal and state level, this is likely to result in changes to public forest management and to the objectives assigned to the USDA Forest Service and to the state forestry agencies. States are projected to draft new and to change old private forest practices regulations as a result of sustainable forestry concerns. In the private sector, the trend of applying criteria and indicator-based sustainable forestry management standards and certification programs will continue. Non-industrial private forest owners are projected to make the fewest direct accommodations. Finally, where directly comparable, the Delphi study's results were not significantly different from the quantitative approach, suggesting that Delphi has promise for network research applications.     

美国私有林管理及其对广东民营林业发展的启示

美国政府十分重视私有林的发展，通过立法明确私有林产权、规范私有林主行为，实行积极的经济和科技扶持政策，使私有林业成为美国的重要产业之一。美国私有林已建立了一整套完善的管理制度，积累了许多成功的经验，为广东省民营林业的发展提供了有益的启示。