Exploring the future use of forests: perceptions from non-industrial private forest owners in Finland

The transformation of the forest sector toward a bioeconomy calls for finding new sources of competitive advantage for the whole sector to retain its future viability. Non-industrial private forest owners are an important group of actors in the Finnish forest-based sector, as they supply 80% of industrial roundwood and control numerous other tangible and intangible forest-based ecosystem services. Our study analyzes forest owner views on the future use of forests in Finland, their perceptions on the evolving sectorial interlinkages and the position of the forest sector now and in the future bioeconomy. The data were collected in two phases: through telephone interviews of forest owners (n?=?278) and four focus group (FG) discussions (n?=?17), and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The interviews showed that forest owners consider the highest potential for strengthening the sector toward bioeconomy to come from collaboration with energy and construction businesses. During the FG phase, we identified new possibilities founded on forest-based recreational services, cooperation with nature-based tourism and in increasing value-added wood products. In total, forest owners as a high-involvement group emphasized future value creation to be based upon forest ecosystem services and in diversifying the utilization of forests beyond the dominant raw material-driven mindset.     

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.     

Needs of private forest owners in the context of changing political systems: Lithuania as a case study

During the first half of the 20^th century the Baltic States were independent democratic nations where private forest ownership was practiced. After annexation to the Soviet Union, individuals in the Baltic States lost their ownership rights and collective ownership was introduced. Currently, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the land restitution process in the forest sector is coming to an end and the ownership pattern as well as tenure rights are settled. A survey was undertaken to investigate the current state of the private forest sector in general, and the needs and expectations of private forest owners (PFO). Results of the study indicated that for private forest owners their forests first of all provide aesthetic and environmental protection values. Lithuanian PFOs lack information of forests and forest management, face extensive bureaucracy and need help in protecting their forests from fires, diseases and timber thieves.     

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.     

Typology of non-industrial private forest owners in Tasmania

The heterogeneous nature of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners and the challenge this heterogeneity presents for effective policy and program design and delivery is widely recognised. Understanding the socio-economic and motivational differences between various types of landowners will better equip policymakers and forest extension professionals to design policies and programs that efficiently promote private sector timber production and forest conservation outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop a survey-based empirical typology of Tasmanian NIPF owners based on their stated objectives of forest ownership and to relate owner type to a range of observable property and owner characteristics as well as to timber harvesting and forest management behaviour. Using principal component analysis (PCA) followed by means cluster analysis, four distinct groups are identified: income and investment owners, non-timber output owners, agriculturalists, and multi-objective owners. Members of these groups are found to differ significantly in terms of their personal and property characteristics, as well as their timber harvesting and management behaviour. For example, members of the non-timber output owners, who are motivated solely by objectives related to the production and protection of the non-timber outputs of forests, have similar proportions of timber on their property, but are less likely to have harvested timber from their property, than all other groups.     

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.     

Extension for private forest owners: Insights from a representative opinion poll in Switzerland

This paper presents findings from a representative opinion poll among Swiss private forest owners regarding the actual and future role of outside professional advice, training and extension services. First, the Swiss private forest owners are a highly heterogeneous group insofar as they are difficult addressees for any form of public support and extension services. Second, the majority of Swiss private forest owners appreciate the presently offered training facilities as well as the advisory activities of the cantonal and communal public forest services. Third, Swiss private forest owners are open to new forms of extension provided that such services will be custom-tailored and initiated by the advisers. Custom-tailored in this context means that the individual demands of private forest owners need to be addressed in a differentiated manner and advice will not be limited to the economic aspects of timber production. Local advisers from cantonal and communal forest services are presently in a pole position for offering new forms of extension, however, there are also more opportunities for services offered by private firms and non-governmental organisations. The broader scope for advisory and supporting activities as well as an increasing variety of potential actors providing such services implies a change in formulating and implementing forest policy programs at federal and cantonal levels.     

Collaboratives,cooperation, and private forest ownership patterns: Implications for voluntary protection of biological diversity

The conservation of biological diversity, particularly on landscapes dominated by non-industrial private forests, usually demands explicit recognition of cross-boundary cooperation. This study investigates the spatial challenges faced by stakeholder-driven collaborative processes in achieving participation by landowners individually or collectively. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 37 landowners, collaborative participants and public employees led to the development of three scenarios from efforts along coastal Oregon to restore endangered Coho salmon. The scenarios illustrate success and failure in achieving conservation activities across multiple ownerships, and the importance of ownership patterns and their purposeful consideration to those outcomes. The findings indicate that the structure of the collaborative, and in particular, issues of representation, affect the accessibility to physical locations in the landscape. In developing or modifying similar collaborative efforts, ensuring access to important landscape features (i.e. critical habitat) must be a primary concern, if direct, voluntary landowner action is needed.     

Carbon banking: Creating flexibility for forest owners

The focus of forest-based systems for sequestering carbon has largely been on creating permanent stores of carbon on defined areas of land with a single payment to the forest owner for the carbon. In terms of forest management, this focus leads to two outcomes, continuing production of timber if the forest area is sufficiently large to create an effective permanent carbon pool, or a cessation of harvesting if the forest area is too small. In addition, the payment system for carbon is generally based on matching a specific buyer and seller of carbon using a single payment to the forest owner. In combination, both of these factors create a carbon sequestration system that is too inflexible to attract anything but the largest land or forest owners. The paper presents an alternative system for carbon sequestration, carbon banking. Carbon banking treats sequestered carbon in the same way that a financial institution treats capital. In essence, forest owners ‘deposit’ carbon, in exchange for an annual payment, and those who need carbon offsets ‘borrow’ carbon by making an annual payment. The role of the carbon bank is to aggregate deposits of carbon and use these to meet various demands for carbon. There are a number of benefits of this system. It provides an opportunity for small forest owners with different types, age classes and management strategies to participate in carbon markets because payments are based on current carbon sequestered. It also allows participants in the carbon market to receive current value for carbon rather than what effectively represents the capitalised value of the future benefits of sequestering carbon, thus removing some uncertainty about locking into the wrong value for carbon.     

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.     

Values placed on forest property benefits by Swedish NIPF owners: Differences between members in forest owner associations and non-members

A forest property represents benefits to the owner, the nature of which varies between resident and non-resident owners. Forest owners’ associations can be considered as an arrangement to increase the benefit from forest ownership by helping the forest owner to increase profitability. Thus, it can be assumed that associated forest owners value forest property benefits differently to non-associated owners. This study examines differences between members and non-members, and residents and non-residents, with respect to how they value the various forest property benefits. Responses from a landholder survey reveal differences concerning forestry income, maintaining contact with native locality, and keeping up a tradition in forestry. It is concluded that a challenge for the associations is to develop the organisation in accordance with the forest owners’ dissimilar property interests.     

浅谈面向林农的信息服务体系建设框架

集体林权制度改革的全面推行,把林地经营权和林木所有权落实到农户,确立了农民的经营主体地位,激发了广大林农的积极性。这些林农在林木经营的过程中需要各种的信息和服务,如林木的养护知识、林业政策、市场经济信息和咨询服务等,但林农群体主动获取信息的能力不强,获取信息的渠道也非常有限。如何为这些林农提供所需的服务,满足他们的信息需求成为林权改革过程中急需解决的一个重要问题。在讨论了林农信息需求的前提下,提出了一个专门针对林农的信息服务体系框架。     

Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Northwest

The potential for traditional and local ecological knowledge to contribute to biodiversity conservation has been widely recognized, but the actual application of this knowledge to biodiversity conservation is not easy. This paper synthesizes literature about traditional and local ecological knowledge and forest management in the Pacific Northwest to evaluate what is needed to accomplish this goal. We address three topics: (1) views and values people have relating to biodiversity; (2) the resource use and management practices of local forest users, and their effects on biodiversity; (3) models for integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into biodiversity conservation on public and private lands. We focus on the ecological knowledge of forest users belonging to three groups who inhabit the region: American Indians, family forest owners, and commercial nontimber forest product harvesters.     

江苏省重点生态公益林涵养水源功能评估研究

以江苏省森林资源二类调查资料为基础,采用水量平衡法对江苏省重点生态公益林的涵养水源功能进行了评估及分析。结果表明:江苏省重点生态公益林年涵养水源总量为1.485×109m3/a。其中,徐州市、无锡市、南京市是涵养水源量较大的城市;不同区域表现为苏北苏南苏中;在不同林分类型中,涵养水源量较大的是杨树、硬阔林类、混交林和竹林。全省重点生态公益林年单位面积涵养水源量为4 936.33 m3/(a·hm2),南通市、镇江市、无锡市分别排在前列;不同区域排序为苏南苏中苏北;单位面积涵养水源量较大的林分分别为硬阔林类、混交林、栎类、软阔林类和竹林。     

通化县在森林资源培育和保护工作中的几点做法

本文介绍了通化县在森林资源培育和保护中的一些经验和做法。     

Supply consequences of subsidizing thinning activities in Sweden

This paper is an attempt to measure the supply consequences of the thinning subsidy which was in operation during the cutting season 1979/80. The econometric analyses are based on a questionnaire to a sample of 2500 private non‐industrial forest owners, which was produced by the official Swedish investigation SOU 1981:81. The analyses show that it is questionable whether the subsidy did affect the total cut. The estimates of the supply increase range from an average of zero to 122 m³/owner. As a by‐product we obtain estimates of the price elasticity of the private non‐industrial forest owners supply curve. These estimates range from 0.63 to 1.69.     

天然林保护工程下的森林采伐伐区管理

在进行木材生产过程中，怎样才能实施好天然林保护工程，抓住伐区管理这个木材生产的源头，是关键的关键，本文详细的阐述了从伐区拨交到验收全过程的管理方法及要求，为加大天然林保护的力度起到了重要作用。     

泉阳林业局森林资源现状与林地保护利用措施

本文分析了吉林省泉阳林业局的森林资源现状及存在问题,并针对这些问题,提出了增加森林面积、提高森林质量以及科学实施林地保护利用的措施。     

Explaining gender differences in private forest risk management

In many countries, lower levels of forest management activities have been observed among female forest owners compared to male owners. The present study examined potential explanations for gender differences in private forest risk management among forest owners in Sweden (n?=?1482) using a questionnaire. Results from this study confirmed a slightly lower level of forest risk management among female owners in proactively combating damage caused by climate change and animal browsing when compared to their male counterparts. Further gender differences were revealed on a structural level. For example, female owners displayed higher levels of education and were more often non-resident owners and urban owners, as compared to their male counterparts. In addition, female and male owners differed regarding social-psychological variables (e.g. forest values and threat and coping appraisals). However the greatest gender difference was found in involvement in forest planning and forestry work. Even though gender differences were evident on multiple levels, involvement in forest issues and forest planning were found to be most important for explaining gender differences in forest risk management. By disentangling predictors of gender differences in private forest risk management, this study may contribute to a more strategic gender approach to forest risk governance.