Examination of Social Factors Affecting Private Forest Owners’ Future Intentions for Forest Management in Miyazaki Prefecture: A Comparison of Regional Characteristics by Forest Ownership Size

Abstract

Although Japan’s planted forest resources are mature, efficient timber production and reforest postharvest are hindered by the small-scale forest ownership and private forest owners’ (PFOs’) low willingness to engage in forest management. A New Scheme of Forest Management (NSFM) has been established under which Japan’s municipalities can aggregate forest management rights which PFOs with low future intentions for forest management. Therefore, this study explores the socioeconomic factors that determine PFOs’ future intentions for forest management and examines NSFM challenges. PFOs were surveyed via questionnaires in two regions of Miyazaki Prefecture with different forest ownership sizes. The results showed that forest size and the presence of successors affect PFOs’ future intention for forest management. In addition, PFOs with low future intentions were less aware of their forests, and their forests were the source of reforest abandonment. Although aggregating forest management rights of PFOs with low future intention by the municipalities may contribute to sustainable forest management, the increased workload on municipalities is a challenge. Overall, accessibility to sufficient decision-making information is a prerequisite for evaluating PFOs’ future intention to manage their forests.

Uncovering the Latent Preferences of Slovenia’s Private Forest Owners in the Context of Enhancing Forest Ecosystem Services through a Hypothetical Scheme

“…A very comprehensive review of private forest owner typologies is provided by Ficko et al [110], where passiveness is one of the key owner profiles. This issue is central in forestry and is reflected extensively in research on the challenges posed by passive forest owners, which includes considerations of their age [110][111][112][113][114][115].…”

“…A comprehensive survey of family forest owners in the U.S. supports this, revealing that inheritors were more likely to harvest wood, engage in reforestation, and collect non-wood forest products. Additionally, having no successors might be detrimental, as Onda et al [115] found that older small-scale private forest owners in two study regions in Japan had very low motivation and unambitious future intentions for forest management if they had no successors. Two additional considerations are that the objectives of owning a forest might shift with a new generation taking over [120], and the transfer of ownership depends on the heirs' willingness to accept forest ownership [121][122][123].…”

Post-Restoration Forest Management Issues in East Asia under Climate Change: Based on the Special Issue “Economic and Societal Losses Due to Environmental Impacts on Forestry Productivity”

“…In Japan, approximately 55% of forests are privately owned, and the micro-dispersed ownership structure hinders efficient resource use. A previous study [17] revealed that as the generation involved in afforestation ages and retires, management succession fails, forest management and boundaries become unclear, and the level of forest management declines, particularly in micro-owned areas. Even in many forest producers' cooperatives and authorized neighborhood associations that were established by reorganizing the remaining historical forest commons (Iriai Forest), management is becoming increasingly difficult owing to low timber prices, a decreased number of members, and tax burdens [18].…”