Forest companies' advice and services to non-industrial private forest owners regarding forest damage in Sweden

Abstract

Forest damage caused by insects, fungi, animals or other pests is a global problem and is expected to become even more common in the future due to a warmer climate and increased international trade. In Sweden, approximately 10% of the forest is estimated to have some form of damage. For the individual forest owner, forest damage can lead to large costs and lost forest values, not only financial. However, previous studies have shown that many forest owners lack knowledge of the state of damage in their forest and that many have limited knowledge of how forest damage can be managed and prevented. Many forest owners may therefore be in need of professional advice and services in this area. The aim of this study was therefore to elucidate the advice and services that forest companies today offer to individual forest owners regarding the management and prevention of forest damage. The study also highlights the forest companies' current approach towards some of the management alternatives that have previously been highlighted as ways to prevent damage.

Data on what advice and services that the forest companies provide to the forest owners was collected through eleven semi-structured interviews with representatives from eight different forest companies. Most of the interviewees worked as timber buyers. These were chosen because they often manage the contacts with the forest owners when it comes to advice and forestry services. In order to describe what information about forest damage the companies convey to the forest owners via their customer or member magazines, the content of magazines from three forest companies and three forest owners' associations was examined.

The results show that the forest companies generally offer the forest owners the same types of services and most of the participating companies were full-service organizations that offer the forest owners all types of forestry measures. According to the interviewed timber buyers, the general advice to the forest owners regarding damage minimization was to choose the right tree species for the land when rejuvenating, to carry out forestry activities at the right time and to be active and visit their forest regularly. According to the timber buyers, the focus on site adaptation had increased in recent years. When it came to specific advice for forest owners who were affected by forest damage, they depended to a large extent on the damage situation and the age of the forest, but also the type of forest owner it concerned. This means that the timber buyers can give different types of advice to self-employed forest owners who have the prerequisites to take care of damaged trees themselves than what they can give to other forest owners. The alternatives when a forest suffered damage were often stated to be limited, and the advice was often about how the damaged forest or trees could be felled and removed in the best way.

The advice on preventive actions was to a large extent linked to the forest's rejuvenation phase. A number of respondents had noted an increased interest from the forest owners in planting larch and an increased interest in continuous cover forestry. In their advice, however, the timber buyers still emphasize traditional indigenous tree species and rotation forestry, even though some companies are adapting their service offering to meet forest owners' demand for continuous cover forestry. It also emerged that the forest certification rules can have a limiting effect on what advice the timber buyers can give, e.g. regarding the use of non-native tree species. A conclusion from the study is that the forest companies' advice and services focus on timber production and primarily benefit active forest owners. Other forest owner groups that do not actively contact the forest companies may therefore need to be reached in other ways with information and support regarding forest damage.

Keywords

family forest owners; forest consultancy; forestry; timber buyer; forest damage; privata skogsägare; skoglig rådgivning; skogsbruk; virkesköpare; skogsskador

Published in

Rapport från Institutionen för skogens biomaterial och teknologi
2024, number: 2024:9
Publisher: Institutionen för skogens biomaterial och teknologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet

SLU Authors

• Kronholm, Thomas

  • Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Business Administration
Forest Science

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139766