%0 Articles
%T Metsäsuunnitelman vaikutus metsänkäyttöpäätökseen (Effect of forest plans on forest utilization decisions)
%A Niskanen, Yrjö
%D 2005
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2005
%N 10
%R doi:10.14214/df.10
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1793
%X Planning of forest utilization forms a hierarchy with normative planning uppermost, strategic level planning next, followed by tactical level forest planning. Lowermost there is operative planning, which leads to the realization of the necessary work. Normative planning with its regulations and recommendations is typical planning by society and communities.  The forest owner's forest utilization objectives are determined in planning at the strategic level. Thus, a holding-specific forest plan contains the forest owner's forest utilization objective and the objectives of normative planning. The purpose of the forest plan from the forest owner's point of view is to support his decision-making. Society, on the other hand, considers forest planning to be an important tool in influencing the use of non-industrial, private forests.  The objective of the present study was to determine how forest plans affect forest utilization decisions. The study consists of four research articles and a summary. The first research article deals with the use of plans in the work of forestry professionals by means of a questionnaire study. Responses were received from 135 forestry professionals from the region of Etelä-Savo in southern Finland.  The other articles assess the effect of forest plans at stand level. The stand-level data consisted of forest resource data, forest utilization data covering 10 years, and the responses to an interview and questionnaire targeted at forest owners. A total of 131 forest owners with forest plans for their holdings and 51 forest owners with no plans for their holdings, and all from the region of Etelä-Savo, were involved in providing these data. A logistical regression model and a multi-level logistic regression model were used in analysing the data.
The results revealed that forestry professionals will use the forest owners' plans whenever this is possible. Similarly, the information on intermediate areas produced in the course of planning is used when operating in forests not covered by a forest plan.  This form of use reduced the differences between forest owners having a forest plan and those not having a forest plan. About one forestry professional out of two endeavours to follow the existing plan and three out of four believe that forest owners benefit from the plans.  The views of wood buyers and local forest management association representatives differed slightly in this regard.  The use of plans was found to be largely the responsibility of forestry professionals. Forest plans had the effect of promoting felling of timber and the care of young stands, they activated the owners to some degree to initiate work, and they had an influence on the targeting regeneration felling operations. Both forest plan owners and those without them were equally poorly aware of the need for care and felling in their forests. Only a small proportion of the forest owners were active in implementing the proposals set out in their forest plan. Indeed, more attention should be paid to customer orientation and ease of implementation when developing forest plans.