Kim, Dohun
- Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The forest bioeconomy is an economic paradigm that aims to replace fossil-based materials with forest-based renewable materials to advance societal aspirations for more sustainable futures. Increasing wood production to advance forest bioeconomy through intensive forest management may reduce other ecosystem benefits and create tensions with other societal demands and forest policy goals.This Thesis contributes to the growing forest bioeconomy literature by investigating the public’s perceived values on wood products and forest management intensity, and through empirical analyses of trade-offs emerging from intensive forest management. It consists of four academic papers of thematic and geographical diversity. Paper I investigated public acceptance of multi-story wooden buildings as a residential alternative across seven European countries. Results show commonly high public acceptance, with differences in the strengths of selected behavioral drivers across countries. Paper II elicited Norwegian and Swedish preferences for forest management intensity in private production forests and explored their relationships with climate change beliefs. Some differences were detected, but both sampled populations preferred less intensive management aimed at enhancing biodiversity, with such preferences positively associated with higher climate change awareness. Paper III analyzed welfare changes among the Swedish public in supporting less intensive management in private production forests through increased taxation. Analyses revealed the prevalence of two groups with contrasting welfare, highlighting the relevance of exploring voluntary support mechanisms to mitigate welfare loss. Paper IV turned to empirical analyses of potential trade-offs from the intensification in forest management supported by the forest bioeconomy in other contexts. Exemplified by the increase in industrial wood pellet production in the US state of Georgia in response to European demands for wood energy, Paper IV assessed whether it had negative impacts on forest health and found a lack of such evidence.The papers suggest that increasing wood production to pursue forest bioeconomy goals is broadly acceptable to the society. Nonetheless, public policy instruments to help balance and to continuously monitor trade-offs between wood production and other ecosystem benefits seem warranted. Any oversight measures should be tailored to specific socio-ecological conditions.
Keywords
Forest bioeconomy; Wood products; Forest management intensity; Trade-offs; Public values; Empirical analyses
Published in
Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae
2025, number: 2025:66
Publisher: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.54612/a.221tm9lfju
- ISBN: 978-91-8124-050-4
- eISBN: 978-91-8124-096-2
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/142467