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Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access

Private forest owner willingness to mobilise wood from dense, small-diameter tree stands

Triplat, Matevz; Helenius, Satu; Laina, Ruben; Krajnc, Nike; Kronholm, Thomas; Zenko, Zdenka; Hujala, Teppo

Abstract

Forests are a source of renewable biomass, and their utilisation will play a vital role in the transition towards a climate-neutral economy. Small-diameter tree management could contribute to this transition via providing renewable biomass for sustainable uses and fostering tree growth towards long-lifecycle bioproducts. The uti-lisation of small-diameter trees in the EU is still low since new technologies and work models are required to make the operations economically profitable, environmentally sound, and socially attractive. The supply of biomass from small-diameter tree stands is dependent on forest owners with diverse perceptions on their forests and diverse ownership objectives. However, there is scarce research on forest owner perceptions on small -diameter tree management, which encompasses home consumption, self-active work, and commercial forestry services. A survey in four EU countries was designed to identify the main factors affecting the motivation of forest owners to mobilise biomass from small-diameter stands. Factor and clustering analyses were used to identify four forest owner segments: weakly-engaged traders, well-being seekers, self-active profit-seekers, and well-informed service users. The willingness to utilise biomass from small-diameter tree stands and participate in the market was shaped by forest owner knowledge of forestry, economic and socio-cultural motivations, and sensitivity to service offerings. Forest owner preferences for market participation are heterogenous, and thus different policy implementation approaches are needed and proposed.

Keywords

Customer profiles; Factor analysis; Forestry services; Management objectives; Biomass; Communication strategies

Published in

Forest Policy and Economics
2023, Volume: 148, article number: 102901Publisher: ELSEVIER

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG7 Affordable and clean energy

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Forest Science
    Economics

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2022.102901

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121391