Calculating non‐industrial private forest owners’ cuttings

Abstract

In Sweden, the government regularly assesses the development of the state of the forest, for example the annual yield and the standing timber volume. One principle, maximum sustainable yield, is used for all owner categories, from government and the forest industry to the non‐industrial private forest (NIPF) owners. The purpose of this study was to present an alternative method of assessing the development of Swedish NIPF owners’ timber inventory and growth during the next 20–30 yrs. The calculations were based on estimates of the NIPF owners’ cutting intensities, defined as actual or planned cuttings relative to the sustainable yield. A distinction was made between farmers and non‐farmers. The study relied on an extensive database comprising tens of thousands of stands on some 1400 private woodlots, and is unique in that it took its data from individual cases and considered different cutting intensities. The results showed that, everything else being equal, the harvesting level of the private forest owners was lower than the assessments made by the government would indicate. As a consequence, the timber inventory and growth developed differently.

Key words:

• assessment
• cutting intensity
• growth
• model
• simulation
• timber inventory