Assessing Small-Scale Forestry by Data Base for Forest Owner Analysis

In Sweden, as in other countries with a growing and increasingly diverse population of forest owners, there is an apparent need for more detailed quantitative data of high quality in order to describe and understand present forest conditions and predict and explain future trends. Therefore, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has developed a Data Base for Forest Owner Analysis (DBFOA) by combining existing forest measurement statistics, gathered on a regular basis by the Swedish Forest Agency since 1992, with records of the individual forest owners. The database consists of self-reported measurement statistics in terms of cuttings, cleaning, scarification and planting from about 30,000 forest management units. It includes information on the owner age, gender, residential proximity to the management unit and the extent of work undertaken by the owner. From 1999 it also indicates whether the forest is certified. This paper demonstrates the use of the database by presenting results from (1) a comparison of management practices on properties that are certified with those that are not, and (2) an examination of how the area of planting and final felling have changed from 1999 to 2006 in total and between male and female forest owners. Results from the first analysis show that the willingness to certify increases with the size of the forest property and also that harvesting activities are more frequent on certified than non-certified properties. The second analysis, show a higher ratio of final felling during 2003–2006 on properties owned by women than properties owned by men.