The formation of small-scale forestry in countries with economies in transition: Observations from Lithuania |
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Authors: | Diana Mizaraite Stasys Mizaras |
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Institution: | (1) Forest Resources, Economics and Policy Department, Lithuanian Forest Research Institute, Liepu St. 1, Girionys, LT-53101 Kaunas District, Lithuania |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | forest management objectives forest management problems cluster analysis groups of forest owners |
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