Pastoral Herding Strategies and Governmental Management Objectives: Predation Compensation as a Risk Buffering Strategy in the Saami Reindeer Husbandry

Previously it has been found that an important risk buffering strategy in the Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway is the accumulation of large herds of reindeer as this increases long-term household viability. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated how official policies, such as economic compensation for livestock losses, can influence pastoral strategies. This study investigated the effect of received predation compensation on individual husbandry units’ future herd size. The main finding in this study is that predation compensation had a positive effect on husbandry units’ future herd size. The effect of predation compensation, however, was nonlinear in some years, indicating that predation compensation had a positive effect on future herd size only up to a certain threshold whereby adding additional predation compensation had little effect on future herd size. More importantly, the effect of predation compensation was positive after controlling for reindeer density, indicating that for a given reindeer density husbandry units receiving more predation compensation performed better (measured as the size of future herds) compared to husbandry units receiving less compensation

Assessment of forestry contractors activities in the forests of the Beskidy Mts.

The paper presents the assessment of forestry contractors activities in the opinion of their owners and analyses the influence of selected factors on the results achieved by these contractors, as well as identified significant barriers and drivers associated with the activities of forestry contractors. The study was conducted among forestry contractors who offer their services in the field of forestry in eight forest districts of Beskid Śląski and Żywiecki in the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Katowice (southern Poland) between 2004 and 2010. The study combined quantitative and qualitative research methods used in social studies. The quantitative research method was carried out on a sample of 297 respondents. The questionnaire for the study consisted of a set of prepared statements using a seven−point Likert scale. The respondents were contacted by post. Finally, the analysis included 101 opinions (34% response rate). The qualitative research method proposed open−ended questions that overlapped thematically with the quantitative part of the study. The research had a character of direct and in−depth interviews. The qualitative research was conducted on a sample of seven respondents. Owners of forestry contractors very well assessed the service activities of their businesses, which resulted from the economic conditions of forest districts. Studies showed that the decline in economic activity of customers resulted in a deterioration of the results achieved by these contractors. Among the analysed factors, only the size of the company had a significant impact on the results achieved by these contractors in terms of forest management in the examined forest districts

Le concept de gestion forestière selon les propriétaires forestiers privés: Une enquête menée dans sept pays européens

International audienceThe involvement of private forest owners in forest management has been frequently examined through attitudes, values, beliefs, objectives and motivations for owning and managing forestland. It has been noticed that owners’ views on forest management do not always align with those of policy makers. However, empirical studies on forest owner’s conceptualisation of forest management are scarce. To determine how private forest owners in Europe conceptualize forest management, a survey (n = 1140) was undertaken in seven European countries (Portugal, France, UK, 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 owner conceptualisation in regard tomajor factors influencing property size, age, education, gender and a divide into the eastern/western European countries owner conceptualizations. Owners primarily conceptualised forest management as preserving forests for future generations and considered that “a good business opportunity”, “an opportunity to earn additional money” or a “source of subsidies” were less important. Forest management was understood as a mixture of forest maintenance, ecosystem orientation stewardship and economic viabilityactivity. Property size, age and eastern/western countries were the most relevant predictors of forest owners’ conceptualisations. Small-scale forest owners from western European countries considered ecosystem orientation more important while owners from eastern European countries considered economic aspects and forest maintenance more important. The differences were attributed to the social-political systems dynamics in Europe in the 20th century and changing values in post-modern society. Policy makers must be aware that the forest management paradigm pendulum swinging along a commodity/non-commodity continuum is unsynchronized between Eastern-Central and Western Europe

Comprendre comment les propriétaires forestiers pensent la gestion forestière. Enquête dans sept pays européens

International audiencePrivate 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