Improving Communications to Increase Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowner (NIPF) Participation in Forest Certification Programs: A Case Study in Arkansas, USA

Despite the socioeconomic and ecological significance of the 10.4 million acres of forestland owned by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners across Arkansas (approximately 58% of forestland in the state), only 5% of this land is certified through the American Tree Farm System. As such, understanding how to improve the reach and content of communications to NIPF landowners is vital for expanding certification participation and subsequent improvement of forest management in Arkansas and throughout the southern United States. To explore current and optimal communications to increase NIPF participation, we employed Berlo’s source–message–channel–receiver (SMCR, 1960) model to analyze survey data collected from Arkansas NIPF landowners regarding their familiarity with, interest in, and information sources for forest certification programs. Our results indicate that NIPF landowners have a relatively low familiarity with certification programs and a low interest in adopting a certification program regardless of personal involvement throughout the certification process, the transparency of on-sight inspections to the public, and the requirements of forest management plans. However, positive correlations were found between self-reported familiarity with certification programs and the perceived usefulness of various information sources, indicating that communications to NIPF landowners have the ability to be influential. Furthermore, the results showed that the greatest perceived benefits to landowners were improved timber growth and health, better management actions, and environmentally-friendly timber harvesting, whereas the most concerning perceived drawbacks were increased record-keeping and paperwork as well as management costs. These findings will offer actionable insights into future messaging campaigns and provide directions for new approaches of reaching NIPF landowners to increase their participation in forest certification.

Smallholders Perception on Mutation Breeding's Muna Teak Demonstration Plot in Cariu Private Forest

Teak wood is the superior wood for carpentry, and the need for carpentry continues to increase in Indonesia. It has prompted various efforts to increase teak production, both in state forests and non-state forests. One of the efforts to increase teak production is using advanced science and technology, superior teak seedlings from mutation breeding. This study aims to describe smallholder's perception of the demonstration plot of Muna Teak from mutation breeding in the Cariu Private Forest, Bogor Regency. The research used two methods: Focused Group Discussion and semi-structured interviews by questionnaires. For the analysis, the study used the perceptual process framework) to explore the data from the two methods and present it descriptively. The result shows that smallholders had a good perception toward the mutation breeding Muna Teak demonstration plot. Smallholders can carry out intercropping (agroforestry) activities in the demonstration plot and increase their knowledge of forestry plant cultivation, especially teak. The activity provides an opportunity for smallholders to improve their welfare.

Comparative analysis of regulatory framework related to private forest management in Slovenia and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Forest policy and forest ownership patterns in Slovenia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) have changed considerably in recent decades due to unprecedented scale of social, political and economic change. The distribution of ownership types varies between the countries – in Slovenia private forest ownership predominates (77%), while in FBiH only about 20% of forest is private-owned. In both countries, private forest properties are small-scale and fragmented, which affects management opportunities and the scale at which policy interventions need to be made. This paper analyses the Slovenian and Central Bosnia Cantonal Law on Forests to assess how the regulatory framework affects private forest owners’ (PFOs) rights, forest management and accelerates cooperation of PFOs. Both laws impose exclusive rights and responsibilities of PFOs, as well as limitation on how they can use their forests. In both countries, legislation contains detailed regulations for forest management activities and stipulate that mandatory forest management plans (FMPs) are an important tool that supports the implementation of sustainable forest management. In Slovenia, FMPs are prepared as common plans for all forests regardless the ownership, while in FBiH the Cantonal Law prescribes a separate forest management planning system for private forests. To improve the efficiency of private forest management, both laws support voluntary cooperation of PFOs. From the analysis, it can be concluded that there is a need for better harmonisation of public and private interests in relation to forest resources, especially in the case of FBiH, and that the deregulation of property right is needed as well as that the level of involvement of PFOs in the forest policy making process is unsatisfactory, in most cases only formal.

Evaluation of Fuel Quality, Throughput Rate and Energy Consumption During Non-Industrial Wood Chip Production with Three PTO Driven Chippers

Physical wood chip quality is essential for failure-free and low emission combustion in small-scale boilers ≤100 kW. In Bavaria, these furnaces are often operated by farmers or private forest owners that produce their own fuels using small to medium sized PTO-driven chippers. As secondary fuel processing steps such as industrial screening are usually too expensive for private forest owners, the selection of suitable raw materials and process parameters to directly produce high quality fuels during chipping are deemed especially relevant for this user group. In the present study, three commonly used small-scale chippers ≤150 kW, i. e. a drum, a spiral and a disc chipper where evaluated in terms of fuel quality, throughput rate and energy consumption during wood chip production. Chipping was done using stem wood of European beech and Norway spruce. Machine settings were the ones recommended by the chipper manufactures for the production of high quality fuels. Additional chipping variants included the use of different raw materials such as crown residues of European willow and varying machine settings including blunt knives, increasing spiral cut length, large screen mesh sizes or increased PTO speeds. Representive wood chip samples were taken after each trial and analysed in their physical fuel properties according to international standards for solid biofuels but also using a continuously measuring image analysis device to determine particle length and particle shape. For all three mobile chippers, wood chips with the particle size class »P31s« according to the revised ISO 17225-4:2021 could be produced when stem wood was used as assortment. Fine content of chips, i. e. particles ≤3.15 mm, was lowest for the spiral chipper and increased for the drum and disc chipper, especially when blunt knives or narrow screen meshes were used for chipping. At the same time, blunt knives increased the particle shape factor (PSF) of the bulk materials indicating a rather broken particle surface structure compared to clean cut particles. Throughput rate decreased and energy consumption increased when fuels with small particle size were produced, e. g. when narrow screen meshes or narrow chipping spirals were applied. This trend was particularly pronounced when blunt knives were used for chipping due to grinding of the material. All three chippers could be recommended for the production of high quality fuels for small-scale boilers when suitable machine settings and raw materials are applied for chipping.

Public Attitudes towards Birds and Private Forest Land Conservation

The eastern United States is dominantd by private forest lands, which are important for supporting a significant proportion of global bird populations. Here, we examine public attitudes towards bird conservation, government involvement in private lands issues, and private forest management objectives with an aim to better understand how these perceptions may shape broader attitudes about bird conservation. Data were collected using psychometric scales and a statewide web survey of the general public in Pennsylvania, USA (n = 656). Findings reveal four unique perspectives about birds and important correlations with conservation support on private lands. Respondents with positive views about landowner assistance programs often had more complex attitudes towards birds and were associated with relational and ethical perspectives about birds. We conclude that future public education efforts might cultivate in learners a more robust understanding of bird conservation if they included private forest lands values and culture in their programs.

The role of land management in increasing the income of Private Forest farmers in Central Lombok Regency

One of the success indicator of private forest farming is an increase in farmers’ income, which is indicated by the large contribution of income from private forests. The size of the income is influenced by several factors, including the pattern of private forest management which will determine the quality products of private forests. However, currently, most of the private forest farmers have not placed the aspect of land management as the main factor determining the success of farming in private forests. This research is conducted to determine the role of land management on the income of private forest farmers in Central Lombok Regency. The research was conducted in three private forests in Central Lombok Regency, namely Pemepek, Setiling, and Sepakek Villages. The method used is interviews using questionnaire to 45 respondents who are selected purposively. The object of observation is land management which include plant maintenance, and harvesting; and farmers’ income from private forest and non-private forest. The data analysis was carried out in a descriptive qualitative manner. The results showed that in general, land management carried out by private forest farmers had not been able to increase income from private forests. However, farmers who carry out crop maintenance in the form replanting are able to produce a higher income than when farmers applied other land management activity. The combination of land management activity will improve their income. The more intensive land management, the higher the income will be obtained.

Profitability of the First Commercial Thinning, a Simulation Study in Northern Finland

Despite positive signals from increasing growing stock volumes and improved roundwood trade, first commercial thinnings (FCTs) tend to be a bottleneck in Finnish forest management and forestry. The reasons are many, but probably the most crucial would be the lack of simultaneous economic incentives for participating agents, i.e., private forest owners and forest machine contractors. This is due to poor stand characteristics in most FCT cases: low cutting removal with small average stem size. There are five predetermined management options: (1) Industrial wood thinning with only two timber assortments, pulpwood and saw logs, (2) Integrated procurement of industrial and energy wood, (3) Energy wood thinning solely consisting of delimbed stems, (4) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with an energy price of 3 € m−3 and (5) Whole-tree energy wood thinning with energy price of 8 € m−3, that were applied for six separate forest stands located in Northern Finland, and derived from a database representing stands with an urgent need for FCT. Then, a two-phase financial analysis consisting of stand-level optimization (private forest owners) and profitability assessment (contractor) was conducted in order to find out whether there would be simultaneous economic incentives for both participants of FCT. The stand-level optimization revealed the financially best management options for a private forest owner, and then, for a contractor, the profitability assessment exposed the profit (or loss) associated with the particular management option. In brief, our results demonstrated that conducting either an industrial wood thinning (1) or an integrated procurement (2) resulted in a positive economic incentive for both the private forest owner and the contractor in all six cases (stands). Further, applying energy wood thinning with delimbed stems (3) would even generate a financial loss for the contractor, given the roadside prices applied in this study