Private forest owners’ interest and motivation to increase environmental considerations

Many of the Swedish environmental targets are related to forests, mostly “Living forests” and “A rich plant and animal life ”. These targets are not being met and the development in the environment is negative. Forests and the species living within them are being affected. With the landmass of Sweden being 69% forest and 47% of this being owned by private forest owners, these people can influence the direction of Swedish forestry. Problems revolve around clear cutting, which influences many species as they cannot survive in the changed habitat. The aim of the report is to investigate how private forest owners in Sweden view their forests and the environmental considerations within it. A survey was sent to 500 Swedish private forest owners, with 11% responding to the questions. The survey asked questions about the respondents, such as age, sex, how much forest they own, their knowledge of environmental consideration in the forest, how they manage their forest and how much environmental consideration they take in doing so. There was no correlation between the respondents' age, sex, how long they had owned their forest, how much forest they owned and how they acquired their forests to what knowledge level they had. Most respondents wish for more economic compensation in order to increase their environmental consideration and consider the economy the most im portant part of their forestry. Thus, the results from this study show more investments are needed, as well as spreading information regarding how continuous stand forestry can be economically profitable.