Small-scale Private Forest Owners Research Articles

Factors Explaining the Willingness of Small-Scale Private Forest Owners to Engage in Forestry—A German Case Study

In Germany, 24% of the forest area is owned by small-scale private forest owners, whose property is affected by a societal demand for forest-related ecosystem services. In the inhomogeneous group of small-scale private forest owners, different living conditions and lifestyles exist, which are affecting the management of the forest ownership. To support the management activities of small-scale private forest owners, institutional instruments exist, but these are only used by a small proportion of forest owners. In order to gain insights into the accessibility and activation of small-scale private forest owners for management, and to draw conclusions for appropriate support instruments, a large number of studies have analyzed the factors influencing the management activities of forest owners. Some studies identify socio-demographic and socio-economic variables as important influencing factors, but do not take into account their complex interdependencies, which have developed as a result of the pluralization of lifestyles and individualization of forest owners. For this reason, in addition to the influencing factors identified in the literature as relevant for forest management activities of small-scale private forest owners, the lifestyle segmentation approach of Sinus milieus established in German market research was applied in this study. This approach allocates forest owners based on their complex lifestyles into ten different milieu groups. A logistic regression analysis was used to determine the parameters influencing the willingness to engage in eight different forest management activities. The results show that the willingness to engage in forest management activities in the future is higher compared to actions in the past. In addition to timber harvesting-related activities, the small-scale private forest owners show a high action potential for non-commodity-related activities. Non-commodity-related activities can primarily be explained by the Sinus milieu affiliation of the small-scale private forest owners. This result underlines the usefulness of a lifestyle segmentation approach such as the Sinus milieus to address small-scale private forest owners in a target group specific way in line with their willingness to engage in specific forest management activities. Institutional instruments such as the membership in a forest owners association or subsidies do not play a significant role for non-commodity-related activities and seem to be inappropriate for targeting small-scale private forest owners for these activities. Timber harvesting-related activities are primarily influenced by the presence of professional foresters, socio-demographic factors or institutional instruments. Based on these empirical findings, implications can be drawn for the target group-specific addressing of forest owners based on different management activities. In this way, forest owners can be motivated to engage in forest management and the provision of forest-related ecosystem services.

Community forestry in the Czech Republic – A historical throwback or a step forward?

The rising level of complexity and uncertainty in environmental governance highlights the interplay between governmental and non-governmental actors producing various forms of sustainable forest management, including community-based forestry, in which the relevance of small-scale private forest owners follows. In urban peripheries, community forestry principles shape small-scale private forest owners' activities. On an analytical level of small-scale private forest owners in Mladá Boleslav urban area, this paper uses the assumptions of the pluralist theory of democracy and resource mobilization theory in the context of community-based forestry to investigate the perceptions of the mobilization of material, human, and socio-organizational resources. It is in line with the policy objectives in the State Conception of Forest Policy 2035 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. Its methodology is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews to gain in-depth results. The results showed that most small-scale private forest owners in urban areas perceived resource mobilization as a potentially beneficial mechanism for reaching a consensus and collective action. However, a functioning model for forest communities in urban areas is missing in the Czech Republic. This situation stems from the historical experience with socialism and the country's short tradition with a market economy. It implies historical prejudices and anthropocentric values among small-scale private forest owners. Lacking confidence in public policy processes and placing emphasis on interpersonal trust were also noticed during the research. The results open future avenues for discussion about the pathways for implementing community-based forestry models in urban areas in the Czech Republic.

Factors Explaining the Willingness of Small-Scale Private Forest Owners to Engage in Forestry in Germany

Factors Explaining the Willingness of Small-Scale Private Forest Owners to Engage in Forestry in Germany

Small-scale private forest owners and the European Natura 2000 conservation network: perceived ecosystem services, management practices, and nature conservation attitudes

The systematic designation of protected areas is a key strategy in modern biodiversity conservation. As for now, the Natura 2000 system of the European Union (EU) is the largest coordinated network of conservation areas worldwide. Since this scheme has a focus on forests, its effectiveness substantially depends on small-scale private forest owners who represent the largest forest ownership group in Europe. We conducted a quantitative survey (n = 1671) in Northwest Germany focusing on the perceived importance of ecosystem services, the performance of management practices, nature conservation attitudes, as well as stand characteristics of small-scale private forest owners with and without Natura 2000 sites. Forest owners perceived regulating and cultural services as more important than provisioning ecosystem services while having a multifunctional perspective on their forest. Owners with Natura 2000 sites had a stronger focus on resource use and, with the exception of habitat-tree protection, did not perform conservation measures more frequently than those without. Moreover, we found more negative nature conservation attitudes among this ownership group. In conclusion, the Natura 2000 scheme needs to be more strongly adapted to the demands of small-scale private forest owners, for example by increasing profound participation and establishing a results-based incentive scheme for conservation measures. The perspectives of small-scale private forest owners have to be considered comprehensively to ensure the effective and sustainable implementation of the Natura 2000 conservation network.

Ideal vs real forest management: Challenges in promoting production-oriented silvicultural ideals among small-scale forest owners in southern Sweden

Land uses such as forestry are concerned with applying standardized management schemes to meet management goals and serve the interests of various actors. As a consequence of differences in actors' power to influence forest management, certain goals and silvicultural ideals will be promoted at the expense of others and thereby homogenize forest management. At the same time, “ideal” outcomes are often hard to achieve in practice and forest owners might not be willing to fully implement programs promoted by the state or industrial actors due to conflicting ideas. In southern Sweden a profit and production-oriented paradigm bolstered by powerful industrial forestry actors promotes clearcutting with Norway spruce (Picea abies) or Scots pine (Pinus Sylvestris) on the areas managed for timber production. Through qualitative interviews with forestry advisors and desk research this study investigates challenges associated with promoting these production-oriented silvicultural ideals among small-scale private forest owners. The study highlights deviations of actual practices from the silvicultural ideals, and explores forest advisors’ perceptions of causes of these deviations, thereby providing insights into challenges associated with production-oriented steering through advisory services. In the studied case, owners and advisors have had to cope with extreme storms and severe browsing damages. Interviewed advisors also perceived a number other factors to be associated with deviations, such as lack of time or knowledge among owners, high costs associated with pre-commercial thinning and owner preferences.

Small-scale private forest ownership: Understanding female and male forest owners' climate change adaptation behaviour

We study the human dimensions of climate change and adaptation of Austrian small-scale private forest owners. The project focused on the human dimensions of climate change and adaptation of Austrian small-scale private forest owners to climate change. In Austria, approximately 95,000 forest owners manage roughly 56% of the forest area with individual properties covering less than 5 ha. Due to changing family structures and traditions, the number of female forest owners is increasing. This study is therefore primarily interested in the decision-making processes of female respondents. The findings are based on a survey, which applied a choice experiment (CE) to investigate forest owners' perceptions of climate change, their motivation for forest ownership and their planned management behaviour under conditions of climate change. Overall, a total of 919 forest owners participated in the questionnaire, 20% of which were female participants from all over Austria. Female forest owners were analysed in comparison to their male counterparts, focussing on the duration of forest ownership, motivation and their preferred forest tending and maintenance approaches. Furthermore, we analysed the likelihood of female participants to apply climate change adaptation strategies in their forests. The findings reveal significant differences and demonstrate that tailored approaches are required when reaching out to females in order to influence their decision-making processes. Therefore, new approaches are necessary, which are specifically addressed to female small-scale private forest owners.

Actor power in the restitution processes of forests in three European countries in transition

The political and economic transformations that have taken place since the early nineties in the former socialist countries in Europe have significantly influenced reforms of their forestry institutions. As part of these reforms, restitution processes were initiated with the aim of recognising private ownership of forests and returning forests to their former owners or heirs. Using institutional and actor perspectives, this paper analyses the power relations of the key actors in the restitution processes in three European countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Serbia. The methodological approach combines multiple research methods: document analysis and a literature review to explain the restitution processes, and semi-structured in-depth interviews for analysing the actors' power in this process.The results show that actors' power in the analysed restitution processes varied greatly between actor types and in different phases in the processes. In the initial phase, considerable power was wielded by the public, which demanded change, and by the policy makers, who enabled the necessary legislative changes. As the processes advanced, the power shifted to liable entities who administered the restitution processes. The analysed countries followed different pathways and had varying dynamics throughout their restitution processes due to their diverse historical and political legacies but the power of the respective types of responsible actors did not vary much between analysed countries. While the cases of the Czech Republic and Slovakia are relatively similar, Serbia proves to be different in terms of initial drivers as well as the phases and speed of the process. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the result of restitution has been the creation of a large number of small-scale private forest owners, while in Serbia property was given back principally to the church, a large-scale forest owner. These owner categories (small-scale private forest owners and church) were formally recognised as new in all three countries but their specific interests were not adequately translated to existing policy and management documents. The state forestry administration in each country has retained power in the field by continuing its supervisory and regulatory role in forest management. Even though the restitution processes are coming to an end in all analysed post-socialist countries, it can be noted that private forest owners are still under strong state supervision when it comes to forest management rights.

Targeting climate change adaptation strategies to small-scale private forest owners

Climate change adaptation needs to receive extensive attention in the forestry sector. While measures are being applied in federal forests and large private properties, it remains unclear how small-scale private forest owners, with a property <20ha, perceive the possible influence of climate change and whether they will approach required activities. While in the past, the majority of private forest owners had ties to agriculture and cultivated farmland alongside their forests, recent studies revealed new trends and significant deviations from established norms and beliefs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the motivations for forest ownership, current management practices, and perception of and adaptability to climate change, to discuss successful approaches for information campaigns, advisory services, and monetary incentives. The study applied a questionnaire with an embedded choice experiment, which obtained a thorough understanding of the salient factors influencing decision-making by surveying 919 forest owners across Austria. Results show that small-scale private forest owners are not homogenous. Three distinct segments were identified (utility oriented, recreation oriented, and tradition conscious forest owners) which reacted differently to provided management options and incentives. However, even under a worst-case scenario setting, 84% of forest owners would select some sort of management over no procedure, indicating that forest management is not generally rejected. Information campaigns should rather focus on soft management leading to attractive, stable and highly diverse forest stands resilient to climate change than on cost efficiency and financial benefits. Therefore, advisory services need to convey, that all forest measures are performed with special care and under consideration of the remaining forest and that each stand is treated individually with adequate equipment. Increasing monetary incentives, such as funding, barely influences forest owners' decision-making and are therefore deemed unfeasible and unable to motivate the owners to undertake climate change adaptation measures. The study shows that a segmentation based on management behavior and preferences rather than on predefined characteristics has the potential to define a new state of the art. Overall, climate change adaptation through tailored forest management is highly supported by the presented findings.

オーストリアにおける丸太の生産・流通構造の変化について : シュタイヤーマルク州の小中規模林家を中心として

オーストリアにおける丸太の生産・流通構造の変化について : シュタイヤーマルク州の小中規模林家を中心として

Clustering-based typology and analysis of private small-scale forest owners in Slovenia

Small-scale private forest owners (SPFO) have been recognized as a relatively heterogeneous social group; therefore typology and classification have become key to describe their characteristics and differences. Most of Slovenian forest is owned by SPFOs. To understand why these forest estates are relatively poorly managed, the owners' values and objectives were analysed. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey (n=387) and based our typology on three values and four management variables. The typology was constructed automatically, using the k-medoids clustering algorithm. Clustering resulted in two clusters, which were our basis for two types of owners: “engaged” and “detached”. We analysed these two types through socio-economic and broader geo-spatial perspectives. We found that multi-objective orientation and high valuation of production function are positively related to active forest management and to the likelihood that the forest will be managed in the future. Conversely, higher value to environmental and social function corresponds to lower management levels. Spatial patterns of owners residencies and forest estates influence managing decisions. Results confirm the importance of spatial factors and owner values and objectives for understanding forest management.

Multiple-Use Zoning Model for Private Forest Owners in Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study

Many small-scale private forest owners increasingly focus their management on amenity functions rather than on wood production functions. This paradigm shift is an opportunity to implement novel forestry management approaches, such as forested land zoning. Forest zoning consists in separating the land base in three zones that have different management objectives: (1) conservation zones; (2) ecosystem management zones; and (3) intensive production zones, which locally increase productivity, as a trade off to increase the land area dedicated to conservation and ecosystem management. We evaluate the ecological feasibility of implementing forest zoning on a private property (216 ha) at St-Benoît-du-Lac, Québec (Canada) characterised by agricultural and forest land uses. As a basis for delineating conservation and ecosystem management zones, historical and contemporary data and facts on forest composition and dynamics were reviewed, followed by a detailed forest vegetation analysis of forest communities. Delineating intensive production zones was straightforward, as fertile agricultural field margins located downslope were used to establish multifunctional hybrid poplar buffers. At St-Benoît-du-Lac, a realistic zoning scenario would consist of (1) conservation zones covering 25% of the forestland (37 ha); (2) ecosystem management zones covering 75% of the forestland (113 ha, including restoration zones on 24 ha); and (3) intensive production zones on 2.8 ha. Based on a yield projection of 13 t/ha/year for hybrid poplars, only 5.6% of agricultural field areas would need to be converted into agroforestry systems to allow for the loss of wood production in a conservation zone of 37 ha of forest. Ecosystem services provision following the implementation of zoning would include increased habitat quality, biodiversity protection and enhancement (by restoration of some tree species), carbon storage, non-point source aquatic pollution control, local biomass production for heating, and increased forest economic value.

Factors Influencing the Choice of Management Strategy among Small-Scale Private Forest Owners in Sweden

Half of the productive forest area in Sweden is owned by small-scale private forest owners. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information that would allow categorizing small-scale private forest owners according to their management strategy. In this study, we surveyed small-scale private forest owners in Sweden to determine the proportions who applied various management strategies. We analyzed the results using chi-square tests to identify the most relevant factors affecting the management strategy choices of individual forest owners. We found that “soft” factors, such as the importance of income from the forest, membership in a forest owners’ association, certification and an interest in and knowledge of forestry issues, had a stronger impact on the choice of management strategy than most “hard” factors related to the owner or the property, such as gender and distance between the owner’s residence and the property. However, property size was the most important factor and was associated with the importance of income derived from the forest and several other soft factors.

Factors influencing Norwegian small-scale private forest owners’ ability to meet the political goals

Norwegian forest policy has high-level, complex objectives for the products and benefits from the forest, including increased contribution to the climate, preservation of biodiversity, and creation of economic values. In Norway, it is first and foremost small-scale private forest owners who have to deliver on these expanded goals. The article reveals owners’ lack of forestry competence, and elaborates on the role of forestry employees (advisers) in owners’ decision-making processes, be it forestry-competent owners or not. There is, however, a decreased number of advisers in the private and public forest services, implying that forest owners are atomised in the meaning of being alone. This type of individualization and an increasing lack of forestry competence among forest owners are a contradiction. The mismatch is serious for the government and the forestry business because it probably hampers the fulfilment of the political objectives. The article presents six options for meeting the obstacles to goal fulfilment. The article is based on two research projects from the counties of Trøndelag and Hedmark. Data were collected between 2002 and 2007 and include survey, focus group interviews, in-depth interviews, fieldwork and document analysis.

Institutional change in the forest sector: trust and mental models

The paper looks, from a perspective of institutional economics, at a process of change of rules and organisational practises in the forestry sector, particularly drawing on a case study of small-scale private forest owners in the Allgau, Bavaria. It is argued that the process of change may be initiated by the traditional factors mentioned by the various theories of institutional change (technological change, changes in preferences, changes in relative factor prices, etc.). However, the direction of change observed in the short run cannot be understood with the help of efficiency theories of institutional change. Denzau and North (1994) extended those theories by introducing mental models as explanatory variables. Mental models are the interpretations (half-baked theories) people use to understand their environment. As observed, mental models play a crucial role in determining the direction of change. However, the question that arose was: what determines the selection of mental models in an uncertain environment? It is observed that trust plays an important role. Therefore, an extension of the Douglas and North theory is suggested.

Not seeing the forest for the trees? The environmental effectiveness of forest certification in Sweden

Forest certification can be conceived as one of many rapidly growing non-state market driven (NSMD) modes of governance. The environmental effectiveness of forest certification is oftentimes evaluated by indicators such as stringency of standards, degree of participation by key stakeholders, certified area, etc. In political science, forest certification as an NSMD governance arrangement is usually evaluated in terms of the quality of the decision-making procedures (input legitimacy) rather than for its problem solving capacity, i.e. its environmental performance or effectiveness. We conceptualize environmental effectiveness as a function of a standard's environmental stringency and the area covered by the standard, the latter dependent on the degree of social acceptance. Accordingly, the environmental effectiveness of different certification schemes ought to be evaluated taking both the standard stringency and the area certified into account. The forest certification process in Sweden illustrates how forestry history and regional differences affect the development, acceptance and adoption of different certification schemes. Industrial and Northern forestry owners favour the NGO led Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards whereas Southern small-scale private forest owners preferred to develop an alternative scheme the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We demonstrate that there is a bifurcated geographical coverage of the two certification schemes along a north–south divide coupled with a similarity in standard stringency and a high degree of acceptance in their different areas of dominance. Both forest certification schemes display a similar degree of environmental effectiveness — but in different parts of the country and for different types of ownership.

A typology of small-scale private forest owners in Sweden

Planning instruments have to be consistent with the underlying values of the forest owners to have an influence on their management activities. The aims of the present study were to identify different types of Swedish forest owners, to quantify their objectives and to validate a previous, qualitative study of the objectives of the small-scale forest owners. A survey was conducted and forest owners were classified by means of cluster analysis into five types: the “economist”, the “conservationist”, the “traditionalist”, the “multiobjective owner” and finally the “passive owner”. Significant factors characterizing these owners are presented and discussed. The results showed that clear subgroups of forest owners can be differentiated by their objectives and confirm recent studies suggesting that a sole emphasis on economic benefits is not desirable from the forest owners’ point of view. The findings should give a better understanding of the behaviour of the small-scale forest owners and provide a basis for further research, counselling and development of forest policy.

Lithuania

In Lithuania forests occupy about 2 million hectares, it consists 31.3% of total land area. 32.2% of forests are privately owned. Annual removal is 6.5 million m³. The main production of the Lithuanian woodworking industry is sawn wood, furniture. Lithuanian forests are not only the source of wood products but also non- wood forest products such as berries, mushrooms, game etc. Forests are owned by 222.2 thousands private forest owners and 42 state forest enterprises. Forest industry consists 873 companies; most of there are SME’s. The main factors effecting the competitiveness of forest-wood /non-wood/servicesconsumer chain from the point of view of entrepreneurship in Lithuania: rich wood and non-wood products resources; low level of round wood prices;, favourable geographical location; low cost of labour; the possibilities to get financial support from EU funds. Barriers to entrepreneurship: low level of domestic market development for wood and non-wood products (especially for small-sized round wood); the small-scale private forestry; high transaction cost for entrepreneurship; low capital resources (GDP per capita is low; biggest part of consumption expenditures fall to food and housing); low level of investments and innovations; very weak integration of forest sector to rural development programmes; low knowledge of business establishment and management; weak connections between research and business. The main problems and research questions for enterprise development in the forest sector: domestic market development strategies; urban consumers demand for forest products and services, integration of forestry into rural development; clasterisation of wood working industry; social structure of small-scale private forest owners; conflicts resolutions of multipurpose forest utilisation.