Modeling Forest Owner Harvesting Behaviour and Future Intentions in Tasmania

Our ability to design public policies that effectively promote the efficient use of privately owned forest resources is underpinned by an understanding of the way in which forest production and investment decisions are made, and of how forest owners respond to changes in social, economic, and institutional conditions. A model of non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF) past harvesting behaviour and future harvesting intentions using a logit approach is presented. A Tobit model, which investigates harvesting intensity, is also developed. The responses to a survey of 386 NIPF owners in Tasmania are used to construct the data set consisting of socio-economic characteristics of NIPF owners, their forest ownership objectives, and property characteristics. The current study is innovative in that the role of NIPF owner objectives and attitudes is assessed in three econometric models exploring past harvesting behaviour, harvesting intensity, and future harvesting intentions. A series of observations can be made from comparing the results of the three models. For example, higher pulp prices are unlikely to affect NIPF owners harvesting intentions but are likely to increase harvesting intensity. The financial characteristics of the NIPF owner contribute most to predicting future harvesting intentions, with financial security being a disincentive to future harvesting. Landowner objectives and attitudes are important in explaining past harvesting activities and future intentions but do not significantly affect harvesting intensity. Furthermore, there are significant differences between different types of landowners in terms of the incentives that are likely to make them change their mind about participating in native forest harvesting.     

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.     

Introducing Gender in Studies on Management Behaviour Among Non-industrial Private Forest Owners

The genderization of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) ownership creates different conditions for male and female forest owners. To compare male and female forest management behaviour and to examine whether observed differences should be understood in terms of gender, data from the Swedish National Board of Forestry's interview inquiry were used. Differences in frequency of harvesting and silvicultural operations were examined by binary logistic regression and differences in harvesting volume were tested by a multiple regression analysis. In all analyses sex of the owner was introduced as one of the explanatory variables. The sex of the owner was found to have a significant effect on the frequency of harvesting, cleaning and supplementary planting, but not on planting and mechanized scarification. In the cases when the sex of the owner was a significant factor, the degree of activity among the female owners was found to be lower. Results regarding harvested volumes did not expose any significant differences in harvesting management strategies between male and female owners.     

Characterization of nonindustrial private forest owners and their influence on forest management aims and practices in Northern Spain

Explaining and predicting nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) owner land management based on social, economic, and environmental factors is an increasingly important issue in policy arenas and academic research on rural development and planning. This study empirically explores and assesses management behavior by NIPF owners by analyzing attributes of landowner profile (age, educational level, primary occupation, engagement in farming, membership of professional groups, training in forestry, availability of market information, and specific knowledge and use of production criteria for timber harvesting). With the aim of predicting outcomes, a multiple regression model was constructed to investigate and quantify the probabilities of and factors influencing the participation of owners in agricultural and forestry associations. In March 2004, 103 resident forest landowners were interviewed about their commitment to and involvement in land management during 1999–2003 in Mariña Oriental, a forest region of Galicia, Northern Spain. Results suggest that professional occupation, particularly farming background, is the main factor affecting, either directly or indirectly, the forest management behavior of NIPF owners in the area. In particular, our logistic regression model for landowner membership of professional groups explained 77.9% of the variability observed in the study population, which suggests that the agricultural background of NIPF owners and their expectations from forests, represented by their future intention to enlarge the forestland base, play an important role in membership. In the region, forestry could be a valuable economic activity but it is not considered as such today. Findings could be used as a guide for design, planning, and implementation of research and policy measures that allow NIPF landowners to promote sustainable forestry for rural development.     

Perceived risk sources and strategies to cope with risk among forest owners with and without off-property work in eastern Norway

Abstract

This paper presents empirical insight into part-time and full-time property owners’ perceptions of risk and risk management strategies. In addition, the relationships between forest owners with varying degree of off-property work and property and forest owner characteristics, risk perceptions, risk management strategies and harvesting behaviour are examined. The data originate from a questionnaire responded to by forest owners in eastern Norway which were merged with 9 years of logging data. Timber price variability and institutional risks were perceived as primary sources of risk. Use of advisers from the forest owners’ association, buying personal insurance and off-property work were perceived as the most important ways to handle risk. The results show that off-property work affects to a lesser degree what forest owners perceived as important risk sources, but that risk perceptions affect to a stronger degree the ways in which risk was dealt with. The chosen risk management strategies influenced the forest owner's harvesting behaviour to some extent, but more research on the issue is needed to clarify the relationship. There was a positive relationship between owners with off-property activities and their performance as timber suppliers. Several measures, such as improved rural education, revision of some of the arrangements that regulate property mergers and support measures for increased on-property diversification may increase annual timber harvesting and reduce variability in harvesting level.     

Despite failure: The emergence of “new” forest owners in private forest policy in Wisconsin,USA

Abstract

Similar to other industrialized countries, the USA has experienced a significant increase in the number of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners as well as shifts in the values held by these owners. This study examines the motivations of predominantly new ex-urban forest owners interested in forest management in pursuing collective action through participation in the now out-of-business Sustainable Woods Cooperative (SWC). While common elsewhere, forest landowner cooperatives in the USA are an anomaly. Through a case-study design that depended primarily on semi-structured interviews, it was found that SWC members were motivated to join SWC as it was an attractive alternative to (1) the typical timber sale scenario that often places the forest owner at a disadvantage, and (2) the primary government tax incentive program. SWC represents a shift towards owners playing a greater role in shaping forest practices and markets, which is generally absent in the USA. It also suggests that new ex-urban forest owners, who are found in most industrialized countries, will seek to reshape the forest policy arena to meet their values and objectives. As such, this study provides insights for others in understanding the potential changes wrought by the changing characteristics of forest owners.     

Information Needs of Non-industrial Private Forest Owners After Logging Operations in Finland: A Case Study

In this study, the information needs of non-industrial private forest owners in Finland, after logging operations, were investigated. The study was carried out as an online survey in 2017. The survey was targeted at non-industrial private forest owners who had sold their timber during the previous 10 years (2008–2017) and whose email addresses were in the customer relationship management system of a large wood procurement company in Finland. A response link for the survey was successfully sent to 31,988 forest owners, of whom 3323 replied (response rate: 10.4%). The final study data included 3284 non-industrial private forest owners. The results of the study, which need to be interpreted cautiously due to the low response rate, showed that the forest owners want better-quality reporting after logging operations. Furthermore, the results suggested that gender, age, education, occupational status, place of living, size of, and access to, forest property, and length of, and objectives for, forest ownership have a significant effect on their information needs. Younger, highly-educated, female, urban-living and multi-objective forest owners with larger forest holdings and short forest ownership tenures desired more information. Particularly, the respondents conveyed that they would like more and better information about thinning harvesting result. The results also indicated that when different groups of forest owners call for certain information, there is a need for producing different types of reports after logging operations for different forest owner segments.

     

Typology of Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners and Forestry Behavior: Implications for Forest Carbon Sequestration in the Southern US

To implement effective climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration activities in the southern US, nonindustrial private forest landowner (NIPF) participation is necessary because of the significant area of forest land under their ownership. For policy implementation to involve this major ownership group in climate change mitigation activities in this region, it is important to understand their forest management motivations and understanding toward carbon sequestration. This study develops a regional typology of NIPF landowners based on reasons for owning forest land in the southern US. The specific goals were to: (1) segment NIPF landowners into smaller homogeneous groups based on reasons for owning forest land; (2) identify landownership characteristics and forest management behavior by ownership groups; and (3) assess their climate change beliefs and understanding of forest carbon sequestration by ownership groups. A principal component-cluster analysis of 735 responses to a mail questionnaire distributed to NIPF landowners in the southern US revealed three groups, which were named amenity, multi-objective, and timber-oriented landowners. The amenity group included 21% of the landowners, while the timber and multi-objective groups included 40% and 39% of the landowners, respectively. These landowner groups varied in terms of owner characteristics, forest species type and management behavior, climate change beliefs and understanding of carbon sequestration. The amenity and multi-objective owners tend to have more positive belief toward climate change than the timber group, but more landowners in each group indicated having poor understanding of forest carbon sequestration. The study fills a knowledge gap in research efforts by developing a regional typology of NIPF landowners and linking it with their forestry resources and management strategies along with their climate change beliefs and understanding of forest carbon sequestration.     

Non‐industrial private forest owners' decision process: A qualitative study about goals,time perspective,opportunities and alternatives

In the Nordic countries, the non‐industrial private forest (NIPF) owners play an important role in the roundwood market, and are essential to the successful implementation of environmental policies. We know little about the owners as managers, however; about their goals, procedures for identifying cutting opportunities, or the selection of buyers and price options. To study these issues, I have used a qualitative method, based on personal interviews with 35 owners. The results show that an overriding objective, influencing the cutting patterns of the owners, is to preserve and develop the property. A variety of formal and informal economic, production and environmental, and intangible goals are influenced by this overriding objective. In addition to relying on their own observations of price changes and the recommendations of the forest management plan, owners identify cutting opportunities through neighbours, friends, timber buyers, or extension rangers. Usually the owner uses the same selling form from one time to the next. Dissatisfaction with the result of the last cutting, however, may trigger a search for new options.     

New Forest Owners: Change and Continuity in the Characteristics of Swedish Non-industrial Private Forest Owners (NIPF Owners) 1990–2010

This paper presents a total survey of the characteristics and changes over time (1990–2010) within the entire population of Swedish non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF owners). By charting the changed demographic, socio-economic and geographic profile of the NIPF owners, it also provides a baseline for a discussion and analysis of potential implications for forest management, policy and values. NIPF owners differ in important ways from the general population of Sweden. However, the gap has narrowed over time with regard to, e.g., educational level and sex composition. The ongoing urbanization process is evident in the growing share of non-residential NIPF owners who live at a distance from their forest property and who differ from their residential (rural) peers through, e.g., higher education, higher income and a higher prevalence of co-ownership of their forest holdings. Although these changes might translate into updated views on forest values among NIPF owners, there could be a delay before this impacts on forest management practices and output.     

Swedish non-industrial private forest owners: a survey of self-employment and equipment investments

It has been estimated that Sweden’s non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners undertake a total of 12 M hours of self-employed forest work per year. This paper reports an evaluation of self-employment in Swedish NIPF’s in terms of the people and equipment involved. NIPF owners’ self-employment was determined by a nationwide survey. Complete equipment sales statistics were compiled from interviews with manufacturers and importers. About 66% of NIPF owners are undertaking self-employed forestry work. Pre-commercial thinning was the activity undertaken most frequently by them, followed by planting, cutting and extraction. In comparison to other NIPF owners, self-employed NIPF owners tend to be younger, and are more likely to be male, single owners, resident on holdings, farmers and members of forest owner associations. Sales of new equipment suitable for self-employed individuals amounted to €67 M, or 83,000 items. Based on sales numbers and the profile of self-employed NIPF owners, no major changes in the amount and nature of self-employment are expected in the near future.     

Agroforestry practices of non-industrial private forest landowners in Washington State

A mail survey was conducted to gain understanding of the agroforestry practices of non-industrial private forest landowners (NIPF) in Washington State, located in the north-western USA. Although NIPF owners control 1.5 million hectares of the state's commercial forestland base, their diversity of forestland uses, land management practices and objectives as land managers are not well understood. Past NIPF surveys and anecdotal information suggest agroforestry is a major use of NIPF lands. We defined agroforestry as a potentially sustainable land use practice combining the deliberate growing of woody perennials with agricultural crops and/or animals. Objectives of this study were to:

1. determine the extent that agroforestry is used by Washington's NIPF owners,
2. develop insight into NIPF owners' motivations for practicing agroforestry,
3. describe the agroforestry practices within three distinct physiographic and agroecological zones in Washington, and
4. determine the agroforestry information needs of NIPF owners.

The target population consisted of NIPF owners in 4 counties within each of the three regions. Response to the August 1990 mail survey was 63.5%, yielding 296 useable questionnaires. Fifty-seven percent of all respondents practice agroforestry. Forestland grazing is the most common agroforestry practice (39% of all respondents), followed by windbreaks (34%), harvest of special forest products (12%), livestock enrichment plantings for forage or shelter (7%), orchard grazing (5%), orchard intercropping (2%), and Christmas tree grazing (0.34%). The most frequent motives for owning land were passing land on to children (80%), keeping it natural and income from timber (both 72%). Respondents saw aesthetics (77%), increasing land unit income (74%), and water conservation (70%) as possible advantages of practicing agroforestry. High establishment costs (66%) and livestock damage to trees or crops (64%) were the most frequently selected potential disadvantages to practicing agroforestry. Lack of technical and educational support (67%) and lack of access to livestock/livestock facilities (58%) were disincentives to practicing agroforestry. Landowners are interested in learning more about agroforestry and how agroforestry techniques might be incorporated in their land management tool kit. A significant number of non-industrial private forest land owners in Washington believe that management of forestland, balancing conservation and production goals, can be furthered by suitable agroforestry practices.     

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.     

Conflicts in conservation: Woodland key habitats,authorities and private forest owners in Sweden

Abstract

The process of protection (e.g. reserves, agreements) on the lands of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners sometimes leads to conflicts (conflict: a perceived threat to needs, interests or concerns; in this study, “threat” was important). To investigate predictive factors for such conflicts in southern Sweden, a questionnaire was sent to 132 NIPF owners with woodland key habitat (WKH; identified biodiversity values). The response rate was 77% and conflict was reported by 22.5% of respondents, while 14% reported good relations with authorities. The respondents reported conflict due to rules for cutting, protection and compensation. Compared with other owners, those reporting conflict were younger (mean 54 versus 62 years old), had more negative opinion about the personal contact with the authority, had twice as large an area of WKH and had more negative opinion about the WKH. Logistic regression revealed four variables that predicted conflict: area of WKH on property, opinion about WKH, opinion about personal contact and, especially, age of respondent. Younger forest owners may be more dependent upon income from harvesting than older owners. Conflicts were frequent and the factors identified here should be taken into account in forest conservation work.     

Decision making among Finnish non-industrial private forest owners: The role of professional opinion and desire to learn

Abstract

The primary basis of contemporary forest planning research, which assumes the forest owner to maximize his or her expected utility, has left aside cognitive and social patterns of reasoning in real decision-making situations. To add on to present knowledge, the decision aid needs were approached by assessing different ways of solving decision problems among non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners in Finland. The study investigated how the diversifying goal structure of NIPF owners would be reflected in practical decision-making strategies. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and qualitative analysis were used to acquire a deeper understanding of NIPF owners’ decision making. Altogether, 30 purposively selected owners from southern Finland provided information to analyse the level of sharing decision power and eagerness to learn in decision making. Five decision-making modes were distinguished among the interviewees: (A) substantial trust in professionals, (B) desire to learn for self-reliance, (C) sequential, managerial judgements, (D) balanced, considerate decision making, and (E) strong decisions of one's own. According to these modes, corresponding decision aid approaches were constructed. The results show a broad variety of problem-solving strategies and thus decision aid needs. To facilitate unprompted and genuine decision making, the presented modes should be taken into account when owner-orientated forest planning services for NIPF owners are developed.     

Determinants of private forest management decisions: A study on West Virginia NIPF landowners

The availability of timber in the United States depends largely on forest management and investment decisions of nonindustrial private forest landowners since they hold the largest share of forest land in the nation. Since NIPF landowners are so diverse, there is a need to better understand the determinants of their decisions so that policies could be in place to motivate them. A survey was carried out in 2005 to the nonindustrial private forest landowners of West Virginia to examine the factors affecting their forest management decisions. The study looked at four categories of decisions related to forest management: timber harvest, silvicultural activities (i.e., tree planting, herbicide application, fertilization, thinning, grapevine control, and timber stand improvement), property management activities (i.e., road construction, road maintenance, surveying/boundary maintenance, and access control), and wildlife habitat management and recreation improvement activities. Four models were developed to examine factors affecting each category of forest management activity. The results showed that landowner, ownership, and management characteristics of NIPF landowners are associated with their forest management decisions. Specifically, age, education, profession, income, ownership size, period of forestland acquisition, distance of the forestland to the place of residence, whether the forestland was purchased or acquired through inheritance or as a gift, primary objective of forestland ownership, and presence of a written forest management plan were found to be significant determinants for at least one of the categories of forest management activities. The models explained 25%, 27%, 31%, and 24% of the variation in timber harvesting, silvicultural activities, property management activities, and wildlife habitat management and recreation improvement activities, respectively. Understanding the underlying factors influencing forest management decisions of this diverse group of forest landowners could form the basis for developing, modifying and targeting policy instruments to motivate NIPF landowners in forest management.     

The formation of small-scale forestry in countries with economies in transition: Observations from Lithuania

Lithuania has been undergoing a transition from one political culture (based on a centrally planned economy and a one-party system) to a radically different political culture (market economy and a democratic political system). After the declaration of independence in Lithuania, some new phenomena emerged in forestry: the privatisation of forest industry, the formation of a free timber market; increasing timber export levels; and new modes of ownership (private forests) and enterprise (private business logging companies). Private forest owners control approximately 680,000 ha of forest, 33% of the total forest area, projected to increase to 40–45% in the future. Small-scale private forestry is developing in Lithuania but there is a lack of information about the objectives and problems of private forest owners. This paper presents the main results of a survey carried out in 2004 by the Lithuanian Forest Research Institute. The most important forest ownership objectives are firewood production for home consumption, income generation from wood and non-wood product sales, and protection of nature and biodiversity. The main problems for private forest owners are that the forest properties are too small to achieve efficiency, owners lack money for silviculture activities and there is a heavy bureaucratic system for forest-related activity documentation. A cluster analysis of respondents’ ratings of importance for various forest management objectives reveals four groups of private forest owners. These groups are named according to their dominant management objective, as multi-objective owners, businessmen, consumers and ecologists.     

A typology of small-scale private forest owners in Sweden

Abstract

Planning instruments have to be consistent with the underlying values of the forest owners to have an influence on their management activities. The aims of the present study were to identify different types of Swedish forest owners, to quantify their objectives and to validate a previous, qualitative study of the objectives of the small-scale forest owners. A survey was conducted and forest owners were classified by means of cluster analysis into five types: the “economist”, the “conservationist”, the “traditionalist”, the “multiobjective owner” and finally the “passive owner”. Significant factors characterizing these owners are presented and discussed. The results showed that clear subgroups of forest owners can be differentiated by their objectives and confirm recent studies suggesting that a sole emphasis on economic benefits is not desirable from the forest owners’ point of view. The findings should give a better understanding of the behaviour of the small-scale forest owners and provide a basis for further research, counselling and development of forest policy.     

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...     

Recognizing the Interest of Forest Owners to Combine Nature-Oriented and Economic Uses of Forests

Protecting biodiversity within separate set-aside conservation areas has not been effective enough to halt its loss. Thus, new approaches to conserve biodiversity alongside production are needed. The non-market values of a forest may play an essential role when the forest owner decides the use of their land. However, so far the service offerings other than related to timber production, have been scant. The mismatch between decision support services offered and the service interests of forest owners may result in the objectives of forest owners remaining unfulfilled. The aims of this study were to explore the links between family forest owners’ forest management preferences and their objectives for the forest and secondly their preferences for decision support services. Data were collected in a postal survey in the Northern Karelia region, Finland in spring 2014. Data consist of 298 survey answers that were analysed using multi-variate analyses. Two typologies were combined: clustering of forest ownership objectives and the preferred forest management style. We found that the forest owner’s objectives were demonstrated by their preferred way of managing the forest. Opinions about different decision aid services varied between cluster groups. The groups emphasizing nature values considered biodiversity related information about their forest more necessary than other groups. They were also less satisfied with the usability of the forest management plan. Forest advisory services should better acknowledge the prevalence of multiple objectives also among forest owners who are interested in timber selling. Developing services for forest owners with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, information needs and objectives is important.