Willingness of Private Forest Owners to Supply Woody Biomass in Croatia

Abstract

Renewable energy sources have received significant attention in European countries as a result of increasing dependence on energy imports and concerns over high prices of fuels and climate change. Although private forests in Croatia account for less than one quarter of all forests, they may play an important role in woody biomass energy production, due to their underutilized exploitation. The objective of this paper is to identify the willingness of private forest owners to supply woody biomass and to understand how this willingness is affected by certain owner, management and forest property characteristics. A survey conducted in Croatia in 2012 of a random sample of 350 private forest owners shows that almost half of them were willing to supply woody biomass. A random utility model was used to determine the factors influencing private forest owners’ willingness to supply woody biomass. The results showed that willingness to supply woody biomass was influenced by property size, management objectives (production of fuel wood for personal needs and using the forest for outdoor recreation), cooperation with other forest owners and owner age. In order to enhance woody biomass mobilization from private forests it is important to identify the owners who are willing to supply it and to provide them with financial and administrative support using a mix of developed forest policy instruments.