Skógræktarritið - 15.05.2001, Qupperneq 120

Today spruce that was planted
before and just after World War II
is beginning to become mature
and must be harvested. The prob-
lem is that such logging is not
happening to the extent neces-
sary to avoid development of over
mature stands and reduced eco-
nomic value. What are the causes
of this and what should be done
in order to stimulate sustainable
logging from the local economic
point of view?
Forest ownership
In our study we found big differ-
ences in forest activity between
local communities and farms
with approximately the same
natural conditions (Amdam et al
2000). Understanding the situa-
tion and adaptation of house-
holds that own forests is essen-
tial for understanding causes for
lack of logging and for being able
to increase the level of logging.
Through personal interviews with
over 90 forest owners in 7 munic-
ipalities in More og Romsdal and
Sogn og Fjordane, we have found
that operators and households
can be divided into four main
groups (Amdam 1999b):
Tfie commercially active. This in-
cludes households and farms
where income from logging of
forests means a good deal for the
total household income; the
household is actively interested
in the forest, pursues active con-
servation and active logging,
making sales in general through
the forest owners' association.
The intensity of forest use is
often quite high, while less
intensive farming (livestock for
slaughter) is often pursued, and
often in combination with in-
come from outside the farm. In
areas with few possibilities for
work outside of farming, there is
a more common combination of
active live stock raising and
118
forestry. Even if forestry is typi-
cally "male-dominated" in most
areas, we have also found
women with active interest in the
forest in "forest-active peripheral
areas" such as Tingvoll munici-
pality. The forests belonging to
commercially active households
are often large compared to
forests of other farms in the
same area.
Forest-active. These farmers and
households are actively interest-
ed in their forests, active with
both conservation and harvest-
ing, but mostly for their own use
and for "friends" and acquain-
tances. They are often active
users of local sawmills, but not
very "commercially active"
through the usual system of
sales. They often have medium-
sized milk production and the
household often has an annual
income from outside the farm.
The income adaptation and the
size of the forest are such that
use of the forest will only yield a
secondary income and a way to
make use of "empty time" by
exploiting resources that the
household uses itself or that are
sold to friends outside the vat
system. Many of these can
become commercially active in
connection with increasing areas
of spruce forests becoming ready
for harvesting. Spruce is also
sometimes seen as a "problem"
because the forest must be
logged before it starts loosing its
economic value, it isn't "money
in the bank" like pine can be.
Passive with potential. This is a large
group comprising active farmers
with often more than one work-
year of milk production and with
medium-sized to large forests.
Younger households also often
have income from outside the
farm in the amount of at least
one half work-year. What distin-
guishes this group from the first
two is that they do not have an
active attitude toward the forest.
They are seldom in the forest and
find it difficult to carry out forest
operations "between farm
chores" even though they own
usable machines and forest
equipment. As one responded: "If
1 have to choose between drink-
ing a cup of coffee with the wife
and driving into the forest and
cutting down a tree or two before
the next chore that has to be
done on the farm, it's usually cof-
fee." The threshold for these indi-
viduals becoming commercially
active foresters is far higher then
for the first two groups, both
connected to attitudes, knowl-
edge and the possibilities associ-
ated with available time. How-
ever, collaboration with other
operators, both on the side of
livestock and forestry operations,
can possibly bring changes.
Passive witfi little personal potenlial.
This is the largest group we have
studied in terms of the number
of households in the rural com-
munities and is also a strongly
variable group. One sub-group
are the recently retired, often
older bachelors on small and
medium-sized farms who have
little meat or milk production,
just enough to "get by." It also
includes households that own a
small farm with little forest and
get most of their income from
outside of the farm. The farm is a
residence but they have little
knowledge and take little active
action with respect to their
forests, they hardly even know
"where it is." They consider it
unlikely that they will one day
buy equipment or hire compe-
tent help to operate the forest.
The forest is too small for that
and it is too dangerous to work
there, outside of removing wood
for private use that is. Forest
SKÓGRÆKTARRITIÐ 2001 l.tbl.