social science

Private foresters had a lot of quantitative data thanks to the data accumulated by the National Forest Inventory for more than 20 years, as well as information on the structure of the private forest thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture's survey in 1999. But they did not take into account the behaviour of forest owners. In 2009, the network for observing the behaviour of forest owners was launched by the CNPF and Fransylva, with the financial support of France Bois Forêt. The objective is to collect new information on the behaviour of forest owners, particularly regarding the management of their forests according to their forest area and the region where they live. In the surveys, the same behavioural trends of forest owners appear: sentimental attachment to their wood, environmental responsibility, heritage to be valued and source of economic income.

The main outcomes include so far:

• Surveys carried out by telephone to owners of more than 4ha of wood cadastral land with a duration of 15min
• 2500 people interviewed throughout France during the surveys
• Other surveys for specific studies at a more regional level (risk perception, climate change,...).  
• The results of the surveys make it possible to create new management tools for forest owners and new distribution media. They are also used to improve the advice of technicians in order to better take into account the expectations of forest owners and encourage them to mobilize their wood.