Anders Lindhagen

A typology of small-scale private forest owners in Sweden

Abstract Planning instruments have to be consistent with the underlying values of the forest owners to have an influence on their management activities. The aims of the present study were to identify different types of Swedish forest owners, to quantify their objectives and to validate a previous, qualitative study of the objectives of the small-scale forest owners. A survey was conducted and forest owners were classified by means of cluster analysis into five types: the “economist”, the “conservationist”, the “traditionalist”, the “multiobjective owner” and finally the “passive owner”. Significant factors characterizing these owners are presented and discussed. The results showed that clear subgroups of forest owners can be differentiated by their objectives and confirm recent studies suggesting that a sole emphasis on economic benefits is not desirable from the forest owners’ point of view. The findings should give a better understanding of the behaviour of the small-scale forest owners and provide a basis for further research, counselling and development of forest policy.

An approach to clarifying public preferences about silvicultural systems: A case study concerning group selection and clear‐cutting

To avoid large clear‐cut areas in recreation areas, three experiments where group selection was used to transform even‐aged stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) into uneven‐aged stands were started. Two of these group selection stands were compared with adjacent forests managed by the clear‐cut system on the basis of the opinion of seven voluntary groups. The respondents have given their judgement of the forest sites in a semantic differential test. All parties made assessments when visiting the forest sites. In addition, two of the groups made assessments of black and white photographs representing the forest sites. The methods used were found to be both reliable and valid. A very low correlation was obtained between the assessment of whole forest areas and the mean value of the assessments of the stands within the same area. According to this study, the group selection method is preferable to clear‐cutting in even‐aged stands of Norway spruce if the attitudes of the voluntary groups are to ...

Preferences and willingness to pay for close to home nature for outdoor recreation in Sweden.

In Sweden there is a strong tradition of using nature areas for outdoor recreation. This paper reports on a study which explored preferences and willingness to pay for outdoor recreation close to home (≤100 km away from home and ≤24 hours stay at a recreation site) using the contingent valuation method. The data originated from a mail survey that involved Swedish residents who were randomly selected from a national register. An ordinary least squares regression model was used to account for factors influencing willingness to pay. The results showed that approximately 50% of the respondents used nature areas close to their home for recreation and their average frequency of visits to these areas was 74 times annually. Areas dominated by forests were the most preferred, followed by water. The respondents were willing to pay approximately 7200 SEK (US

Balancing landscape-level forest management between recreation and wood production

1080) annually. Their willingness to pay was influenced by factors such as type of nature area, distance to and time spent at the recreation site and income. The results provide one input to the land use planning process by considering the demand for nature-based outdoor recreation close to home.