Olli Saastamoinen

The Picking of Wild Berries in Finland in 1997 and 1998

Nation-wide figures related to berry-picking in Finland were based on postal questionnaire surveys carried out in 1997 and 1998. The sample in 1997 consisted of 6849 households and the response rate was 60%. The questionnaire was concerned with the utilization of all non-wood forest products. In 1998, a subsample of 1858 households was taken and the new questionnaire focused solely on berries and mushrooms. The response rate was 69%. In 1997, Finnish households picked 56.5 million kg of wild berries (95% confidence limits were 52.3 and 60.4 million kg). In 1998, a total of 49.7 million kg (44.0, 55.3) was picked. In 1997 the proportion of products sold was 27%, harvested by 5% of households. It is possible that the quantity of wild berries picked in 1997 was higher than in any year previously, but because of a lack of reliable earlier data this cannot be verified.

Costs and benefits of forest conservation: regional and local comparisons in Eastern Finland

Abstract In addition to environmental interests vs. timber production, debates on forest conservation have typically dealt with nationwide vs. local and regional interests. While most previous studies have focused on the nationwide perspective, this paper considers the benefits and costs of existing conservation areas from the regional and local point of view. The non-market benefits of conservation are measured by means of contingent valuation. Unlike most discrete-choice CV studies, we allow for zero willingness to pay. The results of our cost-benefit analysis suggest that the aggregate benefits of conservation clearly exceed the total opportunity costs when viewed from a regional (or nationwide) perspective, but at the local level costs exceed the benefits of conservation. Differences were also found in locally vs. regionally relevant benefits and costs.

Local Economic Role of Nature‐based Tourism in Kuhmo Municipality, Eastern Finland

The study was carried out to examine and quantify the economic role of nature‐based tourism on a local, municipality level. In contrast to mass tourism, nature‐based tourism is characterized by individualism, small tourist groups and geographically scattered supply of services, which makes economic and regional development evaluation difficult. Kuhmo municipality in the Eastern Finland wilderness has a long tradition in small‐scale nature‐based tourism. A so‐called Nordic model was applied to quantify direct, indirect and induced income and employment impacts. The model was developed further in order to track income leakage. The data consisted of 385 tourist groups, i.e. people travelling together, and 100 tourism companies interviewed in Kuhmo. The gross income impact amounted to 3.45 million Euros a year, equalling exactly half of the total tourism income. The share of income leakage was 48%, leaving 1.98 million Euros as a net income impact. Nature‐based tourism employed 53 man‐year‐units in Kuhmo, which was 48% of tourism jobs and 1.6% of total employment. Compared to general tourism, there was no major difference in the amount of daily expenditure. Yet, the pattern of expenditure was different and generated less direct and more indirect effects. The results show that nature‐based tourism already plays a role in maintaining the population in peripheral, rural locations and in bringing precious additional jobs to regions suffering from heavy structural unemployment.

Concept of livelihood in the FLEGT voluntary partnership agreement and the expected impacts on the livelihood of forest communities in Ghana

SUMMARY: Strengthening of forest law enforcement is likely to impact the livelihood of forest communities. The paper discusses the concept of livelihoods in the context of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and the expected impacts on the livelihood of forest communities in Ghana. It builds on a literature review and an expert survey. The paper finds that the concept of livelihoods had a prominent position in the VPA negotiation phase. The VPA livelihood impacts will differ for different social groups — the impoverished groups are expected to be more affected in comparison to the wealthier groups. The following issues are identified as the most achievable in shaping the VPA livelihood impacts: improved forest resources and environmental services, reforms of the land and tree tenure system, increased transparency and accountability, and stakeholder consultation and participation in the forest management.

Changes in wild berry picking in Finland between 1997 and 2011

Abstract This study reports on new nationwide figures related to wild berry picking in Finland during 2011. Comparisons are also made with data from 1997–1999. The materials were collected by mailed questionnaire surveys among Finnish households. The sample in 2011 consisted of 3700 households and the response rate was 51%. In 2011, 54% of all Finnish households were engaged in berry picking and the total harvest was 34.9 million kg (14 kg/household). Berries were collected mainly for household use, which accounted for 26.5 million kg. The amount of commercial picking was 8.4 million kg. The results show that annual volumes of berries picked are highly sensitive to fluctuations in biological berry crop levels. In 1997, when the berry crop was abundant, the total quantity picked was 56.5 million kg. Instead, in 1999, when the berry crop was poor, the total quantity picked decreased to 34.7 million kg. The results also indicate that, first, household demand for self-picked bilberries (Vaccinium Myrtillus L.) has shown an increasing trend and only 13% of the picked bilberries were sold in 2011. Second, one-third of all berries collected for sale were supplied to the organized wild berry industry in 2011, while the corresponding proportion was 70% in 1997–1999.

Logicality of expert evaluations of berry yields by the experience and interests of forest planners

Abstract In Finland, expert knowledge has been widely utilized when developing models that facilitate predicting the impacts of alternative forest management options on non-wood forest products. However, expert modelling has been criticized because of the uncertainty and inconsistencies it includes. In this study, expert evaluations regarding bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) and cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) yields of different imaginary forest stands were analysed to find out whether the assessments were logically consistent. In particular, the consistency of the evaluations concerning berry production capacity of different stand densities and site fertilities was examined. The evaluations were made by 266 forest planners and other people whose work was related to field work in forest planning. The study also assessed whether the level of expertise (measured by two different variables, i.e. interest in berry picking and forest planning experience) affected the logic of the evaluations. It was found that on average both bilberry and cowberry yield assessments were in line with empirical research results found in literature. In addition, interest in berry picking was a more reasonable measure of berry yields in different forest stands than planning experience. The results of this study encourage the use of expert knowledge as a tool for forest planning and management.

The New Forest Legislation in Russia: The Leaseholders' Attitudes

Abstract The Russian forest sector has undergone significant institutional changes over its history. This is especially so during the last 15 years following market reforms including abolition of a central command economy. During this time the forest sector has performed poorly in comparison with other natural resource sectors in Russia. The problems were identified to be in the existing formal and informal institutions. In 2007, the new Forest Code was adopted and introduced several major changes in the formal institutional environment. The implementation of the Code constitutes a major challenge for the Russian forest policy. The perceptions and attitudes of the actors play a very important role in how the Code is going to be implemented. The role of these attitudes is analyzed by creating typologies of opinions towards the new Forest Code among the leaseholders in the Northwest Russian forest abundant regions, Karelia, Leningrad, and Archangel. Results indicate that differences in perceptions and attitudes may have different impacts on the law enforcement and further on the realization of forest policy.