Germany

Abstract

Entrepreneurship in non-industrial commercial timber production: The number on forest owners in Germany varies between different authors from less then one million to one and a half million forest owners because the number of owners with less then one acre is enormous and can hardly be estimated. About one third of the forest area belongs to small forest owners, about a half of which is managed by agricultural businesses. Aside from forest-related income, most of the businesses receive income in varying amounts from other sources. Services have therein a growing share. By far, the income from the forest is realised through the sale of wood. For the most part, the owners of smaller areas have predominantly more or less urban life-styles and are not to be regarded as "entrepreneurs." The privatisation of forest areas in Eastern Germany and the increasing sale of forest in the western part of the country have caused the number of owners with idealistic interests and without their own managerial competence to increase. Data on forest management and business success are almost exclusively submitted by farm foresters. They are in possession of relatively high stocks of coniferous wood, which have a high potential for use. A mobilisation of these quantities of wood has for a long time only limitedly succeeded in the larger businesses. The development of forest co-operatives also proceeds satisfactorily, above all with a high degree of participation of farmer forest owners, i.e. a high degree of government involvement.