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

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

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

INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORKS AND INNOVATION IN SMALL, KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE FIRMS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Published version of article from the journal: International Journal of Innovation ManagementIn this study, we address the effect of innovation strategy and an innovative working climate on financial performance in the Norwegian wood industry. Innovation strategy embodies four dimensions: the degrees to which innovation in the form of products, processes, and business systems are embedded in the management values and priorities as well as the degree of expenditure in R&D. An innovative working climate is exemplified by team cohesion, supervisory encouragement, resources, autonomy, challenge, and openness to innovation. Previous studies have indicated a lack of research in traditional manufacturing firms on both innovation strategy and a supportive working climate. Our survey was answered by 241 CEOs. The connectional model was tested with structural equation modelling, and all hypotheses received support. This result implied that innovation strategy and an innovative working climate enhanced financial performance in traditional manufacturing firms

Risk-taking by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in a human-dominated landscape: Effects of sex and reproductive status.

This study aimed to test how the sex and reproductive status of Eurasian lynx influenced their use of 'attractive sinks' - habitats with high prey density and high mortality risks. Locations of 24 Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx were obtained by radio-telemetry in a mixed forest and agricultural habitat in south-eastern Norway. Roe deer, the major food source of lynx in the study area, occurred at higher densities closer to areas of human activity and infrastructure. Proximity of lynx locations to human activity and infrastructure was used as a risk index because the most common causes of death among Scandinavian lynx were of anthropogenic origin. This study shows that distances from lynx locations to human activity were significantly greater for females with newborn kittens than for males, but this decreased with kitten age. The data suggest that this response to human activity is influenced by the reproductive strategies of males and females, and might explain male-biased human-induced mortality in this study and in carnivores more generally