The forest planning process among medium-sized forest owners : description of the group and how they adapt the traditional planning hierarchy

Sammanfattning: Forest planning has traditionally been divided into strategical, tactical, and operational planning all integrated into a hierarchy. Forest planning has been a crucial success factor for the Swedish forest industry, and the planning processes among corporations and small private forest owners have been frequently examined. However, the group of forest owners in the border zone between these two categories has not been evaluated before. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the forest planning processes among medium-sized forest owners in Sweden and to observe and explain differences within the group. The groups relation to the traditional planning hierarchy was also an important aspect to consider, and a general description of the group was desirable to present. A mixed-method approach was used, combining quantitative survey data with qualitative interviews. Some quantitative questions were tested for significance using Welch’s two-sample t-test, but most of the questions were not suitable for statistical analyses. Three interviews were conducted. The results indicates that medium-sized forest owners adopt the traditional planning hierarchy to a large extent, but uncertainty exists regarding the operational planning process. Medium-sized forest owners strongly link to the tactical planning process, with a high share of the respondents conducting planning that is recognized as necessary within the tactical planning horizon, but surprisingly few used decision support systems. However, some expressed views that the tactical harvest plan is not that important and distinguished the harvest plan from the reality. Most forest owners had strategic plans, but fewer had plans regarding nature conservation and ecological landscape plans. Financial return and passing down a heritage for the next generation are the two most important of nine parameters for medium-sized forest owners.