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Sayeed R Mehmood - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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factors affecting nonindustrial Private Forest landowners willingness to supply woody biomass for bioenergy
Biomass & Bioenergy, 2011Co-Authors: Omkar Joshi, Sayeed R MehmoodAbstract:Abstract Bioenergy is a renewable form of potential alternative to traditional fossil fuels that has come to the forefront as a result of recent concerns over high price of fuels, national security, and climate change. Nonindustrial Private Forest (NIPF) landowners form the dominant Forest ownership group in the southern United States. These Forests often tend to have large quantities of small diameter trees. Use of logging residues and non-marketable small diameter trees for bioenergy production can create economic opportunities for NIPF landowners. The results demonstrated that landowners’ willingness to harvest woody biomass was influenced by their ownership objectives, size of the Forest, structure and composition of tree species, and demographic characteristics. The model found that relatively younger landowners who owned large acres of Forestland with pine plantations or mix Forests had the potential to become a preferable choice for contractors, extension Foresters and bioenergy industries as they were more likely to supply woody biomass for bioenergy. Findings of this study will be useful to bioenergy industries, extension Foresters, nonindustrial Private Forest landowners and policy makers.
Špela Malovrh - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Factors Hindering Forest Management Among Engaged and Detached Private Forest Owners: Slovenian Stakeholders’ Perceptions
Small-scale Forestry, 2018Co-Authors: Peter Kumer, Špela MalovrhAbstract:Small-scale properties are the prevailing ownership category in Slovenian Private Forests. Owners are becoming increasingly diverse with predominant multifunctional management orientation which has led to underutilisation of wood potentials over the past decades. We surveyed Forest-related stakeholders (24) to understand their perceptions on factors affecting Private Forest management. We used their perceptions, as opposed to the actual barriers, to understand what needs to be changed in Forest policy. This study is based on the latest (Private Forest owners) PFOs typology conducted in Slovenia which resulted in types of engaged and detached Forest owners. A typology based framework for data collection and analysis was performed using six pre-set categories from operational environment. We followed the Simple Multiple-Attribute Rating Techniques method to evaluate the most important Private Forest management hindering factors. The results showed that stakeholders perceived only minor differences between owner types according to hindering factors. The psychological factors were perceived as the crucial category separating the two types, suggesting that detached owners are more substantially driven by personal decisions, which follow recent societal changes. The group of economic factors was recognized as the most important category for both types suggesting that Forest policy should prioritize profit-oriented management strategies. The results imply that owner-specific Forest policy may not be the priority for stakeholders and that the problems of Private Forest management can be solved with the implementation of innovative and active policy measures, which take into account multifunctional Forest management orientation of PFOs, their characteristics and ownership trends.
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Willingness of Private Forest Owners to Supply Woody Biomass in Croatia
Small-scale Forestry, 2016Co-Authors: Marta Curman, Stjepan Posavec, Špela MalovrhAbstract: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.
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Private Forest Owner Typologies in Slovenia and Serbia: Targeting Private Forest Owner Groups for Policy Implementation
Small-scale Forestry, 2015Co-Authors: Špela Malovrh, Dragan Nonic, Predrag Glavonjić, Jelena Nedeljkovic, Mersudin AvdibegovićAbstract:Forestry decision-makers in Slovenia and Serbia share common objectives: development of a more coherent policy for Private Forests and involvement of different ownership groups in policy deliberation and development, as well as increased management levels in Private Forests that are currently below their productive potential. Successful achievement of these objectives in both countries requires a range of policy tools. The research objective of this study was to identify and describe Private Forest owner types in Slovenia and Serbia based on various criteria (Forest management objectives; participation in Private Forest owner associations; cooperation with other Private Forest owners and the public Forest administration; performing Forest harvesting activities) and to suggest a combination of policy instruments to target each Private Forest owner group. Surveys were conducted in Slovenia (n = 322) and Serbia (n = 248) on random samples of Private Forest owners. Survey data were analysed using a two-step cluster analysis. Four groups of Private Forest owners were identified in Slovenia: active (26.1 %), passive (33.2 %), multiobjective (18.6 %) and uninterested (22.0 %). Two were identified in Serbia: active (32.6 %) and multiobjective (67.4 % ). Existing policy instruments referring to Private Forests in Slovenia and Serbia are rather similar and formulated in the respective Forest policy documents at the national level. However, there are no policy instruments in either country targeting specific Private Forest owner groups. Based on smart regulation as a specific conceptual approach, an appropriate mix of policy instruments is proposed, which includes various measures designed to target the identified Private Forest owner types.
Omkar Joshi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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factors affecting nonindustrial Private Forest landowners willingness to supply woody biomass for bioenergy
Biomass & Bioenergy, 2011Co-Authors: Omkar Joshi, Sayeed R MehmoodAbstract:Abstract Bioenergy is a renewable form of potential alternative to traditional fossil fuels that has come to the forefront as a result of recent concerns over high price of fuels, national security, and climate change. Nonindustrial Private Forest (NIPF) landowners form the dominant Forest ownership group in the southern United States. These Forests often tend to have large quantities of small diameter trees. Use of logging residues and non-marketable small diameter trees for bioenergy production can create economic opportunities for NIPF landowners. The results demonstrated that landowners’ willingness to harvest woody biomass was influenced by their ownership objectives, size of the Forest, structure and composition of tree species, and demographic characteristics. The model found that relatively younger landowners who owned large acres of Forestland with pine plantations or mix Forests had the potential to become a preferable choice for contractors, extension Foresters and bioenergy industries as they were more likely to supply woody biomass for bioenergy. Findings of this study will be useful to bioenergy industries, extension Foresters, nonindustrial Private Forest landowners and policy makers.
Stjepan Posavec - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Private Forest owners in the Western Balkans - ready for the formation of interest associations.
2020Co-Authors: Peter Gluck, Dragan Nonic, Mersudin Avdibegović, Nenad Petrović, Stjepan Posavec, Makedonka Stojanovska, Azra Čabaravdić, Sanita Imočanin, Silvija Krajter, Natasha LozanovskaAbstract:The Western Balkan countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia have in common that their Private Forests are significant resources for the development of market economy and Private ownership. Although the share of Private Forests varies between 10% (Macedonia) and 47% (Serbia), and probably will increase when the restitution and privatization proces s will have been finished, the Private Forest owners are almost not represented in national Forest policy due to the lack of independent interest associations. Private Forest owners' interests are mainly in the hands of public Forest administration. In all four countries there are very large numbers of Private owners of predominantly small-scaled Forests varying between 240, 000 in Macedonia and 800, 000 in Serbia. They are mainly males of an average age of 53 years and most of them live in rural areas in settlements with less than 5, 000 inhabitants. More than one half ofthem are farmers, lower-Ievel employees or unemployed. Regarding education, more than one half of them have high school or vocational college qualifications and one quarter elementary school qualification. The majority of Private Forest owners have inherited the Forests and want to leave them to their children. Most Private Forest owners hold Forest properties smaller than 1 ha. In addition, these properties are often fragmented into 2 to 7 parcels on average, most often in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mixed and coppice Forests dominate and volume and annual increment per hectare are modest compared to state Forests. The Private Forests are mainly used for domestic fuel wood and saw log consumption ; tourism, nature conservation and hunting are of minor importanee. Consequently, for about one half of the Private Forest owners the Forest is again, as reflected in its contribution to the household income. In order to increase the efficiency of Forest management, all Forest owners are prepared to cooperate with other Private Forest owners, first and foremost in road construction and maintenance. Of second priority is cooperation in Forest training for the respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Croatia, and cooperation in sharing harvesting equipment for Serbian respondents. Almost all Private Forest owners are unsatisfied with the existing situation. They miss extension services of the public Forest administrations and state Forest enterprises for improving their Forest management. Most Forest owners miss advice in harvesting, support of road construction and maintenance and advice in silviculture, however, with different priorities in the four countries according to their special needs. Private Forest owners are also much concerned that their interests are not appropriately represented in national Forest policy by an independent interest association. In particular they expect such an association to fight for provision of financiai inc en tives, tax breaks and reformulation of the existing Forest laws in the interest of Private Forest owners. The respondents suffer from restrictive legal regulations conceming Private Forest owners. Prescription to pay levies for timber harvests and permissions for harvesting and tree marking by the Forest authority before felling are indicated as the most restrictive ones. Although Private Forest owners' organizations are very rare for the time being, the respondents are well aware about their tasks. The preconditions for the formation of Private Forest owners' associations for both extension service at the local and regional levels and interest representation at the national level are favourable. Between one and two quarters of the respondents are prepared to engage themselves in the formation of an interest group. They declare to join such an organization voluntarily ifthey may expect either economic advantages or positive performance of the organization or very low membership fee. In each of the four countries there is a critical mass of entrepreneurial Forest owners who strongly support an association of Private Forest owners ; in Bosnia and Herzegovina the "drivers" amount to 55% of the respondents. A majority of two thirds of Bosnian Private Forest owners also support compulsory membership in accordance with the Forest policy decision makers in this country, while the positions of both Private Forest owners and representatives of institutions in Serbia and Croatia are reserved in this respect. An explanation could be that in Serbia Private Forest owners' associations at the local level have been developing slowly during the last two years, and Croatia supports their formation by the Forest Extension Service, a department of the public Forest administration. In Macedonia compulsory membership is most refused by the representatives of existing Private Forest owners' associations.
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Willingness of Private Forest Owners to Supply Woody Biomass in Croatia
Small-scale Forestry, 2016Co-Authors: Marta Curman, Stjepan Posavec, Špela MalovrhAbstract: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.
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policy options for Private Forest owners in western balkans a qualitative study
Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-napoca, 2010Co-Authors: Mersudin Avdibegovic, Dragan Nonic, Vojislav Milijic, Nenad Petrovic, Stjepan Posavec, Silvija Krajter, Bruno Maric, Florin Ioras, I V AbrudanAbstract:Private Forest owners start to play an important role in Western Balkans’ Forestry and they are essential to the successful implementation of environmental policies. Little is known about how Forest policy can support Private Forest owners in these countries and therefore this study was conducted though a qualitative method, based on personal interviews with representatives of 54 stakeholders that include state Forest authorities and administration, Private Forest owners associations, Forest science and research and Private sector in Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. The results show significant homogeneity across the region towards creation of independent interest Forest owners associations based on financial support. Regression analysis identified stakeholder attitudes as significant predictors of policy preferences and also identified owners of production Forest as more supportive of such policies.
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the preconditions for the formation of Private Forest owners interest associations in the western balkan region
Forest Policy and Economics, 2010Co-Authors: Peter Gluck, Dragan Nonic, Mersudin Avdibegovic, Azra Cabaravdic, Nenad Petrovic, Stjepan Posavec, Makedonka StojanovskaAbstract:The Private Forest owners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia are to a large extent not organised in interest organisations although their Forests make up between 10% (Macedonia) and 52% (Serbia) of the total Forest area. Private Forest owners' interests are mainly in the hands of the public Forest administration. This situation is not in accordance with democratic political systems. The paper investigates the preconditions for change by scrutinizing prevailing interest group theories by random surveys of Private Forest owners and in-depth interviews of Forest policy decision-makers. As a result of the empirical research it has been found that, in spite of the large number of Private Forest owners, there are good chances for the formation of Private Forest owners' interest associations in all four countries, mainly because of the high critical mass of engaged Private Forest owners and the support of the majority of Forest policy decision-makers.
Anna Lawrence - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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What influences European Private Forest owners' affinity for subsidies?
Forest Policy and Economics, 2019Co-Authors: Sonia Quiroga, Andrej Ficko, Cristina Suárez, Diana Feliciano, Laura Bouriaud, Elodie Brahic, Philippe Deuffic, Zuzana Dobšinská, Vilem Jarsky, Anna LawrenceAbstract:Abstract This study analyses the linkages between Private Forest owners' perceptions of Forest management, and their affinity for subsidies, in a range of European countries. Society increasingly requires the provision of ecosystem services from Forests, but the willingness of Forest owners to redirect management goals from wood production to the provision of public goods is crucial for sustaining ecosystem services. EU incentives in the Forestry sector are still mainly oriented towards an anthropocentric vision of Forest management. Forest owners and managers are diverse, and although many efforts have been made to understand the role of Forest subsidies in Private Forest management, it is still necessary to analyse the different perspectives on Forest subsidies with a regional comparative approach. This paper explores European Private Forest owners' affinity for subsidies – through survey data at European level—and estimates an ordered probit model to (i) analyse how Private Forest owners in Europe respond to subsidies in Forestry, including regional differences in terms of affinity for subsidies, (ii) characterize the factors that influence these responses and (iii) discuss lessons learned related to Forest owners' attitudes on subsidies and the implications for introducing similar kind of incentives such as payments for ecosystem services. Simulations were conducted to examine the potential effects of changes in property fragmentation or the time allotted to Forest activities. Forest owners with an utilitarian view of Forest management, bigger Forest holdings, full or part-time farmers and Forest owners from East Europe are most in favour of Forest subsidies. Property fragmentation and absenteeism decreases affinity for subsidies.
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understanding Private Forest owners conceptualisation of Forest management evidence from a survey in seven european countries
Journal of Rural Studies, 2017Co-Authors: Diana Feliciano, Sonia Quiroga, Laura Bouriaud, Elodie Brahic, Philippe Deuffic, Zuzana Dobšinská, Vilem Jarsky, Anna Lawrence, Erlend Nybakk, Cristina SuárezAbstract:Abstract Private Forest owners' involvement in Forest management has been frequently examined through the attitudes, values, beliefs, objectives and motivations associated with owning and managing Forestland. Owners' views on Forest management do not always align with those of policymakers who believe Forest owners do not actively manage their Forests. However, empirical studies on Forest owners' conceptualisations of Forest management are scarce. To determine how Private Forest owners in Europe conceptualise Forest management, a survey (n = 1140) was undertaken in seven European countries (Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania). The owners were asked to indicate their level of agreement with 19 pre-tested statements defining Forest management on a five-point Likert scale. Classification and regression trees were used to explain the major factors that influenced owners' conceptualisations. Owners primarily conceptualised Forest management as preserving Forests for future generations and considered “a good business opportunity”, “an opportunity to earn additional money” or a “source of subsidies” less important. Their understanding of Forest management as a mixture of Forest maintenance, ecosystem stewardship and economic activity does not match with alleged policy makers’ views. Property size, age and Eastern/Western countries were the most relevant predictors of definitions of Forest management. Small-scale Forest owners from Western Europe considered ecosystem orientation more important, while owners from Eastern Europe considered economic aspects and Forest maintenance more important. These differences might be associated with the socio-political system dynamics in Europe in the 20th century and changing values in post-modern society. Policymakers must be aware of the different Forest management paradigms among Forest owners in Eastern-Central and Western Europe when designing European Forest policies.
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is the Private Forest sector adapting to climate change a study of Forest managers in north wales
Annals of Forest Science, 2014Co-Authors: Anna Lawrence, Mariella MarzanoAbstract:• Context Two-thirds of Britain’s Forest area is Privately owned. Thus, understanding Private Forest owners and managers, and their attitudes to uncertainty and change, is essential for the success of climate change adaptation policies.
