Developing support for private forests owners seeking to advance their forestry practices

The researchers in the project want to understand and support small-scale forest owners in their efforts to make better use of their forests to fulfill economic, cultural, and environmental goals. 

Expectations are high that the forest will play a key role in combating the climate change. How this could be achieved has become a politicized question. Some stakeholders advocate the protection and preservation of the forest to promote biodiversity and carbon storage, while others argue for active forest management, which they believe leads to positive environmental outcomes and better economic returns. Ultimately, these stakeholders advocate completely different positions – referred to as institutional logics – on what constitutes the best solution for sustainable forestry.

Almost half of Sweden’s forests are privately owned. A quarter is owned by private limited companies and the rest by the state and other public and private owners. Approximately 310,000 private individuals own at least one hectare of productive forest land. In an international comparison, Sweden is characterized by a relatively high level of entrepreneurial freedom in forestry – known as freedom under responsibility. 

But as sustainable forestry has become a hot topic that stirs emotions, confusion has also increased among forest owners. As a result, it is difficult for individual forest owners to decide which way is the best to manage their forest.

In a pilot study, the research group has found  that it is difficult for forest owners to grasp the politicized debate on forestry. This makes it difficult for them to determine their own position and goals about forest ownership. Even if the forest owners have formulated goals, they often lack knowledge about how they can best manage their forests to achieve these goals. This difficulty may be one reason why some forests owners refrain from active forestry.

The researchers will map the perspectives of various stakeholder groups on forestry and conduct experiments to better understand the gap between forest owners’ intentions and their practical actions.

The project group will also identify successful entrepreneurs in the forestry sector in order to gather knowledge about different models for success. Based on the research results, the project group intends to develop an analytical tool that can facilitate the development of business models for private forest owners who want to realize their economic, cultural and/or environmental ideas.