To Join Small-Scale Forest Owners’ Associations or Not? Motivations and Opinions of Small-Scale Forest Owners in Three Selected Regions of the Czech Republic

This article analyses motivations and attitudes of small-scale forest owners in the Czech Republic towards joining associations. The research is a follow-up to a field investigation performed within the National Forest Programme II for 2007–2013 in the Vyso?ina region in 2010. The present research was carried out in the Pilsen region in 2012 and the Central Bohemia region in 2015, applying the same method of investigation as in 2010—a questionnaire survey. The findings are based on the results of all three surveys and supported by the analysis of legal and forestry-related documents concerning financial subsidies for forest owners’ associations. The study has revealed reluctance of small-scale owners to join associations. Their lack of motivation is caused by insufficient funding from the government supporting the administration and management of associations. The reluctance also results from the request for associations to be legal entities, which most applicants do not meet as they are either not registered or are registered under unsuitable legal forms. Between 2011 and 2013, no contributions were paid by the government to associations, and no new small-scale forest owners’ associations were formed. To increase associations, we propose that the government should provide sufficient funding not only for the administration and management of associations but also for the process of establishing associations and initial investments. It is also necessary to make major innovations in legislature regarding the transition of ownerships to more convenient legal forms.     

How much do Irish Private Forest Owners Know about Forestry?

Since 1980, over 20,000 Irish landowners have afforested land, for the first time, as part of an afforestation programme subsidised by the Government and the EU. A survey of 99 private forest owners was conducted to determine their knowledge of broad aspects of forest management. Key questions were scored so as to test whether respondents had passed or failed a forestry knowledge test. Over two-thirds of private forest owners passed the test. Success in this test was shown to be related to whether respondents had (a) attended extension field days; (b) been active in forest operations in the early stages of the forest cycle and (c) been members of farming and/or forestry groups. Younger respondents (i.e., ≤50 years) were more likely to pass the knowledge test than older respondents.     

Small Scale Forest Owners’ Responsibilities: Results from a Swedish Case Study

Requirements on businesses made by society, public and customers for taking different responsibilities have increased, i.e., balancing economic, environmental and social concerns. Based on literature about corporate responsibility and small scale forest owners this article presents a case study of small scale forest owners?? responsibilities in achieving sustainable forest management and Swedish Forest Agency??s local office holders?? expectations. Interviews have been made with ten small scale forest owners. The results show that no obvious conflict exists between economic and environmental responsibilities. The financial benefits for the owners for taking more environmental and social responsibility are small. The two office holders that were interviewed expect forest owners to take responsibilities. The weight that the interviewed owners give to their wishes is low.     

Swedish Forest Owners’ Associations: Establishment and Development After the 1970s

The context under which forest owners’ associations operate has changed dramatically since the first ones were established in the 1910s and 1920s. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of these associations after their establishment particularly since the financial crises at the end of 1970s. The diffusion and merger theories form a conceptual base. The annual reports of the associations are the main data source. The number of forest owners’ associations after 1,985 decreased dramatically and presently is only four. The consolidation can be explained by a wish to achieve increased efficiency through economies of scale and more influence on the wood market. After the financial crises at the end of the 1970s the number of members dropped sharply but has since then increased. Some associations have had significant financial problems. In the 1970s it became apparent that during economic downturns the relatively low proportion of equity made them vulnerable. Return on equity has, on average, during the 2000s been around 7–8 %. One problem for the associations is the risk that larger and more efficient organisations lead to increased “distance” between the associations and their members. Another problem is that the members cannot take advantage of the large value growth. Moreover, there is capital tied up in operations that do not really have any formal ownership.     

Forest Owners’ Socio-demographic Characteristics as Predictors of Customer Value: Evidence from Finland

Small-scale Forestry - Ageing, urbanization, and decreasing dependence of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners on forestry income have challenged the industrial timber supply of several...     

Family Forest Owners’ Commitment to Service Providers and the Effect of Association Membership on Loyalty

Long-term relationships with family forest owners willing to sell roundwood are important for the Nordic forest industry. Research has shown that customer loyalty is mediated by a sense of commitment to the service provider. At least two forms of commitment have been distinguished: affective commitment in the sense of liking the provider, and calculative commitment in the sense of being dependent on the provider. In Sweden, more than one-third of family forest owners are members of a forest owners’ association with the primary objective of supporting its members’ profitability. The associations buy one-third of the owners’ roundwood. This study examined the role of different forms of commitment in the process of becoming loyal timber suppliers, and the moderating role of membership. A questionnaire was sent to forest owners who notified the authorities of a final harvesting operation involving timber procurement by an organization. The results show that both forms of commitment significantly affected loyalty and the forms were correlated. Members of forest owners’ associations who sold their timber to the association expressed higher affective commitment and loyalty than other forest owners, indicating that a sense of member involvement is important for timber procurement by the associations.     

How are Swedish Forest Owners’ Associations Adapting to the Needs of Current and Future Members and Their Organizations?

This paper examines how Swedish forest owners’ associations are adapting their strategies to fit the changing needs of current and future members, and assesses how this development affects the organizations’ profile and relationship with members. To explore this issue eight semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with chairmen and senior managers from three associations and the Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners were performed. Results showed that associations have identified an increasing need for management-support activities among members due to their decreasing familiarity with the basics of forestry. Help is increasingly needed both for setting up goals and objectives for their forest ownership, and to practically manage their properties. The associations’ education programmes are also being improved and adapted to suit members’ varying understanding of forestry by the introduction of A-, B- and C-level courses. Education campaigns have proved to be a successful tool for affecting members’ management objectives. Further, the associations see an increasing need for political activity to counter calls for stricter management regulations being made by the media, politicians and environmental organizations and thereby protect members’ ownership rights. Initiatives within the organizations for more efficient governance processes and the professionalization of working procedures within the member organizations may, however, come to reduce individual member involvement in the associations. Members may thus increasingly come to act as customers of service in their interaction with the organizations.     

Family Forest Owners’ Perceptions of Landowner Assistance Programs in the USA: A Qualitative Exploration of Program Impacts on Behaviour

Using data collected from a series of focus groups, this study examines how landowner assistance programs (which may include management plans, cost-share, technical assistance and advice, and education components) affect family forest owner behaviour in the USA. Not surprisingly, most owners who participated in assistance programs had pre-existing management objectives. Participation in the management plan and cost-share components was found to facilitate the stewardship of private forests by assisting and reinforcing the behaviour of those landowners who already intend to manage their land in some pre-conceived manner. Advice and educational components appeared to do more in terms of introducing owners to new ideas. The mix of components offered as part of a landowner assistance program should consider the goals of the program and which components will be most effective in achieving those goals.     

Chinese Forest Eco-Network System

Based on the current status of nature, economy and society, and in the light of interconnected patterns of material, energy and information flows, the Forest Eco-Network System in China (CFENS) is to be established to harmonizes the development of human, nature and society in this country, which is of integrity, multi-function, high efficiency and operability, and views the whole mainland as an ecosystem with different big parches consisting of different types of forests, grasslands, flelds, barren hills and wasteland, waters, cities and villages. All parches are as individual ecological spots; human activity, precipitation distribution and heat quantity are as     

Comparative Study on Public Forest Management and Forest Law in France and USA

Though public forests in countries take up a small portion of forests, their importance in respect of environmental side looms large gradually. This paper studies and compares the public forest management and forest laws in France and the USA, attempting to explore the forest operation practice in both countries and the emphasis of the law governing forest management, so that a lesson can be drawn for us to learn in China.     

Comparative analyses on the cycle time,productivity, and cost between commercial thinning and clear-cutting operations in Nasu-machi Forest Owners’ Co-operative,Tochigi Prefecture,Japan

This study investigates clear-cutting operations on moderately and gently sloping sites. Cycle times, productivities, and costs of those operations are analyzed and compared with those of commercial thinning operations, to enable logging contractors to easily find trends of those three variables. Felling cycle times of clear-cutting were lower than those of commercial thinning operations. Processing cycle times of clear-cutting on the gently sloping site were lower than those of clear-cutting on the moderately sloping site and commercial thinning. However, processing cycle times of clear-cutting on the moderately sloping site were similar to those of commercial thinning. Forwarding cycle times of clear-cutting on the moderately sloping site were the lowest among the estimated forwarding cycle times. Costs of operation systems were the lowest with clear-cutting on the gently sloping site, followed by clear-cutting on the moderately sloping site, and then commercial thinning with mechanized and current operation systems according to forwarding distance, with extracted volume 0.5 m³/stem. Costs of the current thinning operation system were less than those with a mechanized thinning system below extracted volume 0.3 m³/stem, because of smaller machinery expenses.     

Management and Administration of Urban Forest

Urban forest includes the forest that grows in the citycore and the city fringe. And its scale should be largeenough to affect temperature, precipitation and wildanimal activities so that city residents will gain a feelingof returning to the nature. American experts arguesthat only when standing ground basic area reaches5.5 ~ 28.0 m2/ha, the forest can be classified as anurban forest (Liang Xingquan, 2001). With thedevelopment of urban construction and urban forestry,all trees, including bush…     

Forest Resources and Environment in China

With a vast territory, China is rich in forest resources and diversified environments. The changes in forest resources have a direct bearing on environmental quality. The paper gives a detailed account of the dynamic change in forest resources in China, including the overall process of forest evolution, the status quo and features of the existing forest resources and the development and use of major forest resources. In addition, it analyses the current situation of China's environment and explores the main contributing factors based on the overall environmental situation. In order to achieve sustainable management of forest resources and improve the environment in China, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection and development of forest resources as well as environmental development and improvement. The paper gives an overview of the thinking for sustainable forest resource and environmental development in the future and current focus of efforts.     

Forest vegetation of Xishuangbanna, south China

1 Introduction The tropical area of southern China is climatically and biogeographically located at the northern edge of tropical Asia, including southeastern Xizang (Tibet, lower valleys of the southern Himalayas), southern Yunnan, southwestern Guangxi, southern Taiwan and Hainan Island. The largest tropical area still covered by forests is in southern Yunnan. Tropical forests of southern Yunnan were little known until the late 1950s because of poor access except for some brief descrip-…     

Southeast Tibet Forest Fuel Types and Flammability

Southeast Tibet forest is in east subtropical zone. This region natural environment is unique, influenced by the southwest monsoon, so forest fires are very easy to occur in the dry season. Forest in this region is over mature forest, and accounts for much proportion. Fire season in this area is winter and spring. But in the special year, forest fires can also occur in the hot summer. Fire season lasts from October to next February,but to April in an individual arid year. Most of the fires in this area are surface fires, crown fire, can occur after long time drought. Ground fires do not occur in the region.     

Study on Forest Fire Occurrence in China

China is not rich in natural forest sources. Owing to natural and historical factors, forest fires have long been frequenting China. Forest fire prevention is the most important of all. Forest fire prevention and controlling have long been held as a very important factor in our ecological plans. Taking china 's special geographical location, topography, climate and the distribution of forest sources into consideration, we have every reason to believe that forest fires in China have their own special environment and occurrence. China suffers forest fire hazards heavily. Forest fires arise occasionally from thunderstruck or self-burning of peat. However, most fires are due to man's fault while inappropriately using fires in production and daily life. Since China is located in the Northern Hemisphere with a vast territory, there is a striking difference in the climate between South China and North China.     

Willingness of Farmer Households for Forest Management and Its Impact Factor Analysis after Collective Forest Tenure Reform

The study was conducted in Mangling Village under Dehong Perfecture, Yunnan Province, for thorough investigation of forest tenure structure, management mode and forestland transfer of collective forests as well as of farmers’ preference for management and transfer intention. The impact factors of management orientation of farmer households were analyzed with Logistic Model. The results showed that tenure structure and management modes of collective forest have been diversified after the collective forest tenure reform, and 87.5% of farmer households preferred to independent or joint management while 12.5% of them would rather to transfer their forestland. The choice of farmer household for management mode was mainly influenced by their education background, production skill, household labors and household income sources. The main factors influencing farmer households’ forestland transfer activities include the proportion of forestry revenues to the total revenues, farmers’ experiences, amount of household labor and forest land area.     

Forest edge length estimation – a case study using the Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI)

Forest edges may affect the organisms in a forest fragment by changing biotic and abiotic conditions, and they have important effects on biodiversity. This characteristic of forest landscape is usually assessed using remotely sensed data. When doing so, forest edge length is estimated using either polygon delineation (manually or automatically) or sampling methods. This study attempts to estimate the total forest edge length (at regional level) using three estimation techniques: mapped plot, line intersects sampling, and buffer zone. Another aim is to compare the precision of the results using these techniques with field data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI). The Swedish NFI data allows reasonable precision (less than 10% SE) estimating total forest edge length. In most cases, line intersects sampling and mapped plot (at the subplot level) produce more precise estimates than buffer zone (at cluster level). All three techniques can be applied in monitoring programs aimed at measuring important biodiversity metrics from forest landscape patterns. It was also found that edge density was highest in the south of Sweden. Another future application worth investigating is the ability to determine how forest edge length metrics change over time.     

Forest Mapping with ERS SAR Tandem Data

The feasibility of ERS SAR Tandem data for mapping forest and non-forest cover in China was evaluated over Zengcheng County in the South China. An accuracy of 75% has been achieved. Then, the MACFERST (Mapping China Forest with ERS SAR Tandem data) project started by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China and the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1999. The generation of a large-scale forest map requires solving problems such as the georeferencing and mosaicking of very long image strips covering huge regions and the adaptation of the classification algorithm to account for radiometric differences. Approaches to solve these problems and the classification results in the Northeastern of China will be presented in this paper.