Browsing by Subject "compensation"

The study examines forest owners’ views on the profitability of forestry and their economic objectives. The aim is to find out how forest owners determine and evaluate profitability, and how the methods differ from those used by business enterprises. In addition to profitability perceptions, the study examines forest owners’ willingness to store carbon in their forests. The data for the study were collected by semi-structured interviews, which were undertaken with nine forest owners in spring 2019. The interviewees had participated in a training program called Metsänomistajan Talouskoulu that provides the forest owners with an opportunity to develop one’s understanding in forest management. Also, as the aim was to examine forest owners’ attitudes towards a hypothetical carbon offset program, the forest owners were asked to state their willingness to accept (WTA) presented in a questionnaire form. The results show that forest owners display diverse attitudes and the views on profitability differ from one owner to another. Even though the forest owners are familiar with different profitability assessment methods, utilizing them in one’s actions is relatively rare. While forest owners are generally interested in biodiversity protection, more information regarding carbon sequestration programs is still needed. According to the results, the actual participation rate would depend on factors such as the protocol requirements and the compensation amount. As a whole, majority of forest owners require financial incentives in order to participate in carbon sequestration programs.