Different Organizational Models of Private Forest Owners as a Possibility to Increase Wood Mobilization in Slovenia and Serbia

Abstract

The importance of renewable energy resources has increased over the last decades due to the European Union renewable energy policy and particularly its climate change mitigation objectives. There is a need to mobilize additional wood resources from private forests in order to meet ambitious renewable energy targets and the demand for wood. Due to the conditions prevailing in privately owned forests in Slovenia and Serbia characterized by a large number of still disorganized private forest owners with fragmented and small-scaled forest properties, wood mobilization strongly depends on owners' organization and cooperation. The purpose of this study is to determine the possibilities for wood mobilization from private forest properties in Serbia and Slovenia, and propose organizational models on this basis and experience from the selected case countries. Surveys were conducted in Slovenia (n=622) and Serbia (n=248) on random samples of private forest owners. Analysis of wood mobilization potentials in Serbia and Slovenia showed that the harvesting intensity in private forests is below the potentials, therefore the preconditions to increase the level of wood mobilization exist. The main obstacles to the increase in the current level of wood mobilization in Serbia are biodiversity and the protective forest function, as well as high acquisition costs, also stated as the main obstacle in Slovenia. Moreover, it appeared that the majority of private forest owners in both countries believe that better logistics and infrastructure and interest association of private forest owners are potential solutions leading to an increase in the level of mobilization. Four models of private forest owner organization are proposed and they take into account the characteristics and attitudes of owners as well as activities in supply chain, including timber sales arrangement, construction and maintenance of forest roads, harvesting, measurement and quality assessment of timber, transportation, invoicing and payments.