The importance of timber prices and other factors for harvest increase among non-industrial private forest owners

Abstract

Increased harvest is high on the forestry and climate policy agenda in several countries. By carrying out a national-wide survey of forest owners, we explored to what extent private non-industrial forest owners in Norway are willing to increase harvest due to elevated hypothetical prices. The results indicate that owners who have not harvested timber for sale in the last 15 years do not respond to large price shifts. Instead, ownership objectives and knowledge of a key policy instrument predict willingness to enter the timber market among these owners. The willingness among owners who have sold timber the last 15 years depends on these factors, in addition to price, forest area, income, and gender. Female owners were significantly less willing than male owners to increase harvest. Once the decision to harvest was taken, the stated timber supply volume per area unit decreases with productive forest area among both active and inactive owners. With regard to sources of information, owners who have not harvested timber the last 15 years use the information sources to a lesser extent than other owners do. Forest policies and extension services should acknowledge that for stimulating forest owners outside the timber market to supply wood, factors other than price are important and that alternative information pathways should be explored for reaching these owners.