Browsing by discipline "Metsäekonomia"

The objective of this thesis is to assess the recreational value (access value) provided by Yuelu Mountain Park in China applying travel cost method (TCM) which is commonly used to estimate non-market benefits. Also, a fee that would maximize the entrance fee income is tentatively calculated. The potential trips to be lost next year are estimated based on local respondents visiting intentions among different age groups. The travel cost demand function is estimated by using basic count data travel cost model-Poisson regression, and survey data collected on-site. Average access values per trip were estimated to be € 0.75 for local and € 64.52 for non-local individuals producing aggregate annual access value of € 20.43 million. Based on the travel cost demand function, an entrance fee of € 5.43 would maximize the revenue collected from the visitors. This would mean more than doubling of the present entrance fee. The result could potentially be utilized when deciding on the entrance fees. It is also suggested that the park management could further study visitors' intentions and reasons either to visit or not to visit the park in the future. Estimated consumer surpluses as well as suggested entrance fee must however, be considered with caution because truncation of the on-site survey data is not accounted for in the Poisson model estimations of this study.

The European Union has emphasized the usage of bioenergy by increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption in its member states. The more biomass is utilized in energy production, the more biomass ashes are produced. Different ashes such as wood ash have been studied ecologically a lot, but more business and market research should be conducted on wood ash. The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze and interpret ash fertilization stakeholders´ perceptions of their external environment. The research questions are the following: 1) How do the ash fertilization stakeholders perceive their external environment? 2) What barriers hinder wood ash fertilization? 3) How is wood ash recycling perceived to influence the stakeholders´ external environment? 4) What kind of Environmental Scanning practices do the stakeholders have? This study is a qualitative study which employs the guided/focused interview method. The data consists of 18 interviews conducted in 15 organizations. The approach to the data is abductive. The data is processed, described and analyzed thematically. The ash fertilization stakeholders consider their environment complex and not fully developed. The waste tax act has influenced the structure of the market and worked as a major push-force. It has created various business models in the external environment, which have made some stakeholders adopt an unorthodox code of conduct within the external environment. Few fertilization-based companies operate on ash fertilization. Instead, most of the stakeholders emphasize wood ash utilization. The logistical challenges including the high transport and spreading costs were considered the most influential barrier hindering ash fertilization usage. However, the creation of economically sustainable business models and the incapability to create value to the customer hinder the development of the market, which weakens the competitiveness of ash fertilizers. Other barriers identified were the lack of suitable ashes for fertilization, the insufficient knowledge level of the buyers as well as poor marketing communications. There seems to be an entry barrier to the ash fertilization market, which consists of the low profitability of the ash fertilization business and the high knowledge requirements. Ash recycling was perceived positively by the stakeholders although their knowledge of the concept varied significantly. They connected ash recycling with either nutrient flows or ash utilization as a raw-material for various end-uses. The implementation of ash recycling was regarded as questionable since the stakeholders were uncertain about its effects on the external environment. They considered ash recycling to be influenced by the development of energy policies and legislation both in Finland and in the EU, which they found unpredictable. The stakeholders had difficulty defining ash recycling as a process and perceiving whether it is more connected with forest or energy industries. The majority of the stakeholders did not conduct Environmental Scanning (ES). Only four stakeholders conducted ES, although this perception is interpretive. The stakeholders were categorized in ES modes according to their perceptions of external environmental intrusiveness, analyzability as well as information needs, information seeking and information use. The degree of complexity of the external environment was found high and the rate of change was considered low. Altogether, there are two stakeholder groups operating in the external environment: 1) the market-oriented stakeholders and 2) the utilization/waste oriented stakeholders. The utilization view is currently more dominant, due to the developments in the ash fertilization market. The external environment is still under the stage of development, and there is possible future rivalry between the two views. Ash recycling could be a viable option combining wood ash utilization with business. More market-oriented stakeholders are needed in the ash fertilization market.

Forestry is a hazardous industry globally. Physical conditions, legal frameworks and cultural norms can vary from country to country leading to different approaches to site safety management. There are international, national and regional legislation and guidelines which outline normative approaches land managers can utilise to protect forestry machine operators and the public from accident or injury. In this study, the approaches the health and safety management in forestry operations are assessed in two countries within the European Union –Scotland (as part of the UK member state) and Finland. While both countries practice sustainable forest management, it is shown that this is carried out under different legal frameworks leading to differences in approach to site safety planning. Other factors are shown to have an effect including cultural factors and land ownership patterns.

The goal of this research was to produce guidelines for an eco-labeling program of wood and paper products in the U.S. market. The factors affecting consumers’ willingness to pay for eco-labeled wood and paper products were examined using a metaregression analysis. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine what are the preferable on-product label characteristics. Results show that consumers in North America are willing to pay less for eco-labeled wood and paper products than European consumers. Wooden and durable goods are able to capture larger price premiums compared to less durable wood/paper products. Consumers are willing to pay more for eco-labeled products where the labels provide more information to the consumers. Among demographic variables, age is shown to positively influence the amount consumers are willing to pay for eco-labeled wood and paper products. Among desirable label characteristics contact information of the labeling agency and information about the environmental effects of the product were found important in addition to information enabling product comparison. Environmental non-governmental organizations are perceived as the most credible labeling providers as shown in past studies.

Forest carbon offset projects have been growing vigorously in China in the last ten years. It is necessary to form an overall picture of the projects, to analyze the quality of their development processes, and to shed light on the development of upcoming projects. In order to evaluate their development process, a framework of assessment was built up and applied in practical project assessment. In this thesis, firstly, the situation of the global carbon markets and Chinese forest carbon offset projects was introduced. Especially, different international and domestic carbon accounting and other carbon related standards were presented and compared. Secondly, the previous studies about the assessment of sustainable development impacts of the forestry carbon projects were reviewed; the approaches and indicators were compared and summarized. Then, in combination with checklists and multi-criteria approaches, a new assessment framework was established, consisting of a set of indicators and a four-level scoring system. Finally, 16 Chinese forestry projects which have applied different carbon standards were evaluated with this assessment framework. Their performances were compared and analyzed, the characteristics of standards were also compared. According to the results of the assessment, the successfully registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects gained higher scores, suggesting their development processes were of higher quality. The projects applying Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) in pair with another carbon accounting standard also tended to get higher scores, indicating the positive effect of CCBS on the consideration of sustainable co-benefits. The international standards are stricter than domestic standards, which can be seen from the comprehensiveness and meticulousness of the Project Design Documents (PDDs). The result of the assessment corresponds to the previous understanding about the projects and standards, which supports the validity of the assessment framework.

This master’s thesis examines the effect of international forest investing on the return and risk of the overall risky portfolio. In addition this study looks at the optimal share of forest in the portfolio and correlation between different assets. Interest towards investing in forestry has increased. As a result, knowledge of forest’s characteristics as an investment and different forest investment instruments has increased. Research on forest investing has however been carried out mainly on a national level. This thesis aims to expand the field of research by taking into consideration the global nature of investing. Today, many investors understand the importance of the diversification of the portfolio and hence divide the capital into different asset classes, sectors and markets. This study includes a theoretical framework in which forest assets that differ in terms of location, species, forest management and end product can be compared and included into the portfolio. Return on forestry is calculated according to the Faustmann formula. The historical average return is used as the expected future return. Optimisation of the overall risky portfolio is based on the modern portfolio theory. The framework was tested empirically with three hypothetical case study forest assets, located in Finland, the United States and Uruguay. These forest assets were included to a portfolio, which consisted of three alternative financial assets. Results showed that investing in forest improves the performance of the overall risky portfolio. The optimal share of forest in the portfolio is around 3-15% of the capital. The extent of forest investing’s benefits and the exact share of forest in the portfolio depend on the available risk-free rate. Most of the forest assets seemed to have a low correlation with other assets. It was found that exchange rates affected risk-reward ratios and hence also the results of the optimisation process.

The government of Lao PDR has promoted teak planting for over 40 years, resulting in a significant increase in the area of plantation teak. Most of the plantations are managed by individual farmers and play an important role as a kind of financial insurance system, and a ready source of quick income generation. By cultivating a teak plot it may be determined whether a farmer has land tenure to the plot and through cultivation whether they can afford to send children to school. In Northern Lao PDR the primary sales channel for teak in a complex environment are middlemen. The common association with middlemen is rather negative and they are perceived as rent-seeking actors in the value chain. However in the current teak market system in Lao PDR middlemen take responsibility for many time-consuming steps of performing teak sales in compliance with laws and regulations. In addition, unofficial fees in connection with felling and transporting strongly influence teak wood flows by increasing costs and making the process vulnerable to adversity. In general, middlemen save farmers the trouble of having to deal with unofficial costs and marketing, and therefore they represent a convenient sales channel for farmers. These extra costs are difficult for the society to tackle down as long as Lao PDR possess low effectiveness in the national formal and social control systems. This study focuses on the existing practices of teak middlemen and their implications for teak smallholders. Farmers’ perceptions of the various actors and issues with sales to be addressed are presented and discussed. In this study 120 semi-structured interviews with smallholder teak farmers and 11 with Lao authorities and non-governmental organizations throughout the forestry sector were conducted in four small villages and in Vientiane (the capital) in Northern Lao PDR. A middleman case study was included in the study to demonstrate current actions taken by middlemen. According to the results of this study farmers are lacking the time and motivation to participate in the highly regulated formalities of marketing teak, and prefer middlemen as their selling channel for their wood. Farmers do understand and, based on previous support, report of the importance of external development projects providing training and information related to teak markets, yet consider them challenging without more guidance and structural change in official governing practices.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan valtioneuvoston 12.2.2015 hyväksymää Suomen kansallista metsäohjelmaa “Kansallinen met-sästrategia 2025” Metsästrategian vuoteen 2050 tähtäävä visio on: “Metsien kestävä hoito ja käyttö on kasvavan hyvinvoinnin läh-de”. Metsästrategian tavoitteena on voimakas puuntuotannon lisääminen ja samanaikaisesti toimien ekologinen kestävyys on asetettu edellytykseksi puuntuotannon lisäämiselle. Lisäksi vision mukaisen metsistä saatavan hyvinvoinnin kasvattamisen to-detaan olevan riippuvainen metsän eri käyttötarpeiden yhteensovittamisesta. Metsien käytön ekologisen ja sosiaalisen kes-tävyyden edistämisen voidaan siis käsittää olevan metsästrategiassa yhtäläisiä tavoitteita metsien taloudellisesti kestävän käytön kanssa. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan strategian puuntuotannollisten tavoitteiden kestävyyttä, kestävyysajattelun kehittymistä, painottuen taloudellisen ja ekologisen kestävyyden tarkasteluun, sekä ajattelun siirtymistä käytäntöön. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa lähdetään liikkeelle strategian tavoitteiden mukaisen puuntuotannon lisäämisen vaikutuksista. Ensinnäkin tarkastellaan, mihin tekijöihin puuntuotannolliset tavoitteet perustuvat, odotetun kysynnän ja hakkuumahdollisuuksien valossa. Toiseksi, tarkastellaan voidaanko puuntuotantoa lisäämällä saavuttaa suunniteltuja ilmastohyötyjä ja kolmanneksi, tarkastellaan puuntuotannon lisäämisen vaikutuksia metsäluonnon monimuotoisuuteen. Toisessa osassa tutkimusta tarkastellaan ensin kuinka kestävyys ymmärretään kirjallisuudessa ja toisaalta, kuinka kestävyyden mittarit on määritelty strategiassa. Toiseksi, esitettyjen mittareiden perusteella arvioidaan metsästrategian strategisten hankkeiden kohdistumista kestävyyden eri osa-alueisiin sekä tarkastellaan erikseen puuntuotannon lisäämiseen ja metsien monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseen tähtääviä hankkeita. Lopulta, tarkastellaan valtion tukien kohdistumisen suhteellista ja absoluuttista muutosta puun tuotannossa sekä metsien monimuotoisuuden turvaamisessa Historiallisesti Suomen metsien kestävää käyttöä on ohjannut ajatus puuntuotannollisesta kestävyydestä ja kuutiomäärän maksimoinnista metsätalouden kannattavuuden mittareina. Suurimman yhteiskunnallisen hyvinvoinnin saavuttamiseksi tulisi kannattavuuden tarkastelussa kuitenkin taloustieteen mukaisesti kiinnittää huomiota taloudellisiin suureisiin, kuten hintaan, kustannuksiin ja korkokantaan. Tarkasteluun tulisi metsien käytön osalta sisällyttää myös metsien markkinattomat hyödyt, kuten metsäluonnon monimuotoisuus ja metsien hiilinielut sekä muut metsien käyttöön liittyvät arvostukset. Strategian kestävyysajattelu on tässä mielessä kehittynyt edeltäjiinsä nähden, sillä se tunnistaa kilpailulliset markkinat, joilla markkinoita tasapainotetaan kohdistamalla julkinen ohjaus markkinattomiin julkishyödykkeisiin, edellytyksenä metsätalouden kannattavuudelle. Toisaalta, puun tuotannon maksimointi nähdään edelleen tärkeänä tekijänä kansantalouden kannattavuuden mittaamisessa. Tämä aiheuttaa jo lähtökohtaisesti sen tilanteen, että puuvarojen optimaalista käyttöä arvioitaessa sivuutetaan muut kuin puuntuotannolliset hyödyt. Lisäksi ajatus siitä, ettei puuntuotannon kansantaloudellinen kannattavuus vastaa sen yksityistaloudellista kannattavuutta, aiheuttaa tilanteen jossa kilpailullisiin markkinoihin voidaan puuttua muuten kuin taloustieteellisin perustein. Puuntuotannon maksimoiminen kansantaloudellisen kestävyyden mittarina ei siis edistä kilpailullisten markkinoiden syntymistä tai yksityismetsätalouden kannattavuutta. Ilmastonäkökulmasta metsien lisääntynyt hyödyntäminen ei vähennä ilmakehän hiilidioksidia halutulla tarkastelujaksolla. Lisäksi toimiin liittyvät epävarmuudet vaarantavat sekä toiminnan taloudellisen että ekologisen kestävyyden. Monimuotoisuudelle lisään-tyvien hakkuiden todetaan metsästrategiassa edustavan uhkatekijää. Esitetyt toimenpiteet eivät kuitenkaan edistä metsäluonnon monimuotoisuuden tilan kehittymistä ainakaan lähivuosina ja strategiassa suuri painoarvo laitetaankin METSO-suojeluohjelman onnistumiselle. Kokonaisuudessaan metsästrategian toimenpiteet kohdistuvat 2020-luvulle, joten sen vaikutuksia puun tuotannon lisäämiseen tai monimuotoisuuden tilan parantamiseen ei voida vielä arvioida. Suurin merkitys on tällöin valtion tuilla, jotka puuntuotannon osalta ovat laskeneet 25 %, talousmetsien luonnonhoidon osalta 61 % ja suojelun osalta 65 % vuoden 2010 tasosta. Valtion tukipolitiikassa ei tällä hetkellä näy strategian ajatus metsien

The global warming imposes limitations on timber harvesting. As a result the seasonal variation of logging is expected to increase. At the same time the growth of Russian wood tariff will reduce the import. Together, these will increase the demand for domestic wood. Due to own entrepreneurial work and investments in agricultural machinery, several farms have the opportunity to provide seasonal timber harvesting services as contractors. With timber harvesting services these farms could increase the machinery utilization and save in the fixed costs. The growth of the machinery utilization rate will improve the profitability of the timber harvesting of contractors. The aim of this study was to analyze the profitability of seasonal timber harvesting contractors by employing data of the Finnish bookkeeping farms. The profitability was worked out by the income and costs of timber harvesting and also by the entrepreneur's input of labour. This study also aimed to find out the adventages of synergy in labour and common use of machinery in timber harvesting and farming. In addition this study aimed at to define the influence of the timber harvesting services on the farms total profitability, the seasonal variation of family labour and the use of total working hours. The source material of this study was the data of eight bookkeeping farms collected by MTT Agrifood Research Finland. These eight farms had carried on timber harvesting in the years 2005 and 2006. The income statement and the balance sheet of logging were calculated by using a mail inquiry and recorded financial statements of the farms. On the basis of the income statement and the balance sheet, the essential parameters of the profitability were calculated. The proportional profitability of the timber harvesting services was measured by the profitability ratio. The profitability ratio was calculated by dividing Family Farm Income (FFI) by the sum of costs for family factors, i.e. the wage claim and the interest claim of timber harvesting. The profitability ratio of logging was 1,69 in year 2005 and 1,19 in year 2006. Due to small data the skewness of results was often rather high. The results of the study, however, showed that for farms the timber harvesting services are a good way to increase the utilization rate of the agricultural machines and to improve the profitability of business. Providing timber harvesting services could also balance the seasonal variation of family labour and the use of total working hours of the family farm.

The aim of this study was to find out the province centres distances significance for free sale forest property asking prices. In this case were determined distances from forest properties to the centres of the provinces and relative dif-ferences between the summation approach fair values and asking prices. The specified relative differences were compared with sale objects distances from the provincial centres. From the sale ads were collected forest property sale information that was not available in the Real estate purchase price register by the National Land Survey. From the sale ads collected data were location of the forest property, surface area, fair values by summation approach, summation approach correction of aggregate value, asking price and quantities of logs and pulpwood. Fixed property transaction costs and transfer tax effect were not taken into accounts. In the data were not collected unseparated piece of lands and forest properties with special values. Forest property with a lot of mire, significantly treeless bogs and/or quagmires, was removed from the research data. In addition all the items for sale in the province of Lapland were removed from data too. Sale items area-based exclusion was not made. The basic information, forest resources and computational forestry key figures of the research data was presented as functions of the provincial centres distances. Above mentioned data exclusions and the central research hypothesis results that in formed models were not used many simultaneous variables. Forest property asking prices were higher than the fair values by summation approach. The average asking price of the whole research data was 114 % of summation approach fair values. This meant that the asking prices were av-erage 14 % higher than the fair values. The variation was 52 to 175% of the fair values of the sales items. Near the provincial centres economic forests relative asking prices were higher than those further away from the centres, but the change was almost non-existent. Similarly summation approach aggregate values corrections rates change was just as modest. Areas of the sales items increased as a function of the distances of the centres of the provinces and when areas increased asking prices per hectare decreased. Average volume of growing stock de-creased when distances from the provincial centres increased. Logs and pulpwood shares changed logically. When surface areas of the research data decreased, average volume of growing stock increased. The average unit prices of trees in research data decreased when the provincial centres distances and the average volumes of growing stocks increased.