Waldbesitzertypisierungen und ihre Relevanz für die Holzmobilisierung | Classifications of forest owners and their relevance for timber mobilization

Forestry science and practice are trying to reduce the diversity of private forest owners to a small number of descriptions of characteristics and comportments by creating categories of forest owners using a system based on combinations of these various characteristics. A comparison between various middle-European forest owner categories makes it clear that for the majority two main processes form the basis. The change in agrarian structures and the associated change from a tradition of owner management to a service industry alter the conditions which were previously valid for this division into categories. Analyses which explain the mechanisms behind observed effects in the newly developing service industry market and in its potential performance will gain in importance for forestry practice in the future.