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.     

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...     

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.     

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.     

The “Coming Age of Wood” and Family Forest Owners: An Implications Wheel® Exploration

Small-scale Forestry - The context within which family forest owners operate is constantly changing due to many internal and external factors. Many emerging social, economic, environmental, and...     

What Can an Understanding of the Changing Small-Scale Forest Owner Contribute to Rural Studies? The Swedish Case

Small-scale Forestry - Over the centuries, Swedish rural areas have been formed in close interaction with their inhabitants and different and various uses. Based on studies, particularly of...     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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…     

A Study of Eco-service Valuation of Saihanba Forest

The study made a monetized valuation of eco-service provided by forests at Saihanba Mechanic Forest Farm in terms of water conservancy, soil conversation, carbon sequestration, micro-climate adjustment, air quality improvement, protection for agriculture, biodiversity maintenance, and landscape recreation. The results revealed that the total value of various eco-services is 3.061 billion yuan/a, while the eco-services of unit area forest values at 42 300 yuan/(ha·a).     

Summarization on Evaluation of Ecological Value of Artificial Forest

INTRODUCTIONBecause of the interleaving, extensity of multi-factorsaffecting forest ecological benefit in space, and thecomplexity of bio-factors of forest,and in themeantime, because of lacking of consultation forthe transformation between physical and ecologicalquantum and monetary value, the evaluation ofecological benefit of forest is all along one of thedifficult problems in academic field. In recent years,some scholars have made much research andexploration in the theory and practice…     

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-…     

Research on Evaluation of Forest Ecological Benefit

Forests possess many kinds of ecological functions,which, if expressed in monetary value, would be moreimpressive and definite to make the public as well asthe government recognize its comprehensive effectsand values, and to enhance their consciousness of forestresources protection. However, to date there is nostandard system about how to evaluate forest ecologicalbenefits. Therefore, it is exigent for us to find out howto identify its public benefits and to make scientificevaluation on variou…     

Analysis of Forest Biodiversity Changes in China

By reference of the evaluative data of forest biodiversity changes in China from 1973 to 1998, the variation analysis models of the pressure index of forest biodiversity, forest ecosystem diversity and forest species diversity, as well as the general index of forest biodiversity are developed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Furthermore established is the relevant model of mutation of forest diversity potential functions. This paper points out that changes of forest biodiversity are generally unsteady, especially for the pressure index . The ecosystem diversity index and the species diversity index always fluctuate, resulting in the erratic changes or mutations of general index of forest biodiversity in China.     

Promoting Reform of Chinese Forest Sector Legislation： Some observations from Analysis and Comparison of a Sample of Forest Laws

INTRODUCTION The present paper summarizes key-results from the analysis and comparison of a sample of (national) statutory forest laws, along with the respective conclusions and recommendations in respect of the forest sector legal reform currently underway in the P.R. China. This study exercise was commissioned by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), at the request of the Department of Policy and Legislation (State Forestry Administration of the P.R. China – SFA). German Devel op…     

Implications of Indian Foresters’ Perspectives of Joint Forest Management

A study was conducted in Kullu district in the province of Himachal Pradesh in Indian Western Himalaya, to investigate the perceptions of Indian foresters about aspects of forest management relevant for effective Joint Forest Management (JFM). A lack of uniform understanding was found amongst forestry staff about almost all the studied issues pertaining to JFM. A need is identified to emphasise social aspects in the training of the foresters (including in-service training), along with the existing silvi-technical aspects. For JFM success, measures need to be devised to reduce the political interference in JFM, reduce hierarchical rigidity, and increase interaction between field staff and the administrative hierarchy. Strategies should be devised to make JFM participants as well as forestry staff equally responsible to honour their commitments with respect to JFM.

Ethical Dimensions of Payment for Forest Environmental Services

The market-based incentive mechanism of payments for forest environmental services （PFES） seeks to capture part of the benefits derived from forest environmental services and channels them to forest resource owners/managers who generate these services, thus increases their incentives to conserve and manage forest resources. This paper examines some of the most important ethical issues entailed by PFES mechanism. The analysis shows that PFES may not always benefit the poor due to the comparative disadvantages of the poor and the complicated characteristics of forest ecosystem services. It is important and urgent to take ethical dimensions into account in the PFES approaches and design and develop the propoor payment mechanism in order to achieve the two objectives of forest conservation and economic development.