Propiedad, cooperación

·         A land-consolidation procedure aimed at reorganizing land, including forestland. During the restructuring process, mostly smaller scattered areas (fragmented land) are combined to larger and thus more effective usable areas. The reason for the previous fragmentation is the „real division“. Landscaping also includes the creation of paths, roads and waters as well as similar public facilities.
The main goals of this process are:
Better and more efficient cultivation
Maximum possible benefit for all stakeholders and public
Increase in value

Improving land occupancy

Wood of exceptional quality of various tree species can be sold at the timber auction. First, trees that have high quality timber and are suitable for felling need to be identified with the help of local forester. After the delivery of logs to the place of auction about one month before the event, potential purchasers have 14 days to give offers for the selected timbers. The timbers are then sold to best tenderer. On the day of the open door, the public can view the logs and the prices reached. High quality logs can be sold to purchasers who will offer a slightly higher price than other wood. However, higher profit may be achieved at auction of timber. Purchasers are looking for timber of precisely defined quality and are willing to pay more. It is possible to reach very high prices at the auction and that can be a motivation for forest owners to invest more interest, time and work in their forests. In the year 2018, 3094 logs were offered by 447 owners, 993 offers were submitted. 90% of logs were sold for over 857.000 € to purchasers from Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. The highest price reached at the auction was 11.833 €/m3 for ribbed Acer pseudoplatanus.

Forest owner association (FOA) Pohorje-Kozjak is voluntary, non-profit and independent association of private forest owners established in 2007. Main aim of FOA is to increase the sustainable management of private forests and strengthen the economic power of forest owners in accordance with the law. Main tasks of FOA are education of forest owners, consultancy on management and sale of wood, assistance in applying for calls and giving comments on legislation. In the year 2012, a forest owners cooperative (FOC) was set up in order to expand their activities to the rave of business integration.

FOC Kozjak-Pohorje is an example of good practice expansion from the societal activities to the level of business cooperation in a forest cooperative. The comparative study reveals, that members of FOC are on average younger, they have larger forest properties and are better educated than members of the FOA. Also, the interests of members in FOC and FOA are different;  socio-educational reasons are the main driving force in case of FOC, while among FOA members interests are predominantly economic in nature.

The purpose of FOC is primarily a common appearance on the market, which in turn accelerates the economic benefits of its members and increases the competitiveness of forest owners on the market. On the long term, the plan is to increase the purchase quantity of wood and conclude long-term contracts with sawmills. The FOC also established a logistic center for supplying the residents with heat, produced from woody biomass. The next planned step is the investment in boiler rooms, establishment of social enterprise and sale of heat to final consumers. In addition, members of the FOC carry out logging and harvesting activities for forest owners and state forests. In the period from its foundation to date, the operation of the cooperative is stable and positive.

The Travaglini Company has been active since 1976, when it managed to buy 36 hectares of forest. Over the years, thanks to a correct organization of work, attention to efficiency and quality and a correct use of public funding, she managed to "live with the resources of the forest", giving work to family members as well as seasonal workers. This example demonstrates how it is possible to create efficiency and innovation also in our sector and with our woods. What made the experience of this company great is certainly the mentality and passion with which work and investments have been faced over the years. Having always focused on the efficiency of the company organization and on the quality of the products has given the solid foundation to the company, which thanks to the push towards innovation, of process and product, has made a leap more. The Travaglini family company demonstrates every day how it is possible to work thanks to the forest also in the Apennines, using wood and renewable energy. The first investment was the construction of a large one agricultural storage with innovative features, to be able to work even on bad weather days. Under this structure there is a very well organized line for the production of 4 different types of poles. Subsequently, the company aimed to enhance its production waste, by installing one of the first district heating networks in Tuscany that serves 8 homes. Later the company also focused on the sale of part of the waste as a biofuel. Realizing that many families in the area preferred pellets rather than wood or wood chips, the Travaglini family created a new type of wood chips, called cippatino, capable of replacing pellets. This product, sold in 15 kg bags, costs less than pellets, and therefore is required by customers, but much more than wood and chips, bringing great added value to the company.

Metsään.fi provides eServices for forest owners and forestry service providers. The online application shows the maps, forest information and, silvicultural and cutting possibilities of each forest estate and their compartments:

1. Soil and forest site type
2. Growing stock
3. Treatment proposals for a five-year period
4. Natural values (habitats of special importance)
5. Latest maps and aerial photographs with compartment borders
6. Annual growth. 

Metsään.fi also allows forest owners to apply for subsidies for improvement of young stands and declare notifications of forest use (e.eg. cuttings) by filling e-forms instead of paper ones. In addition, forest owners can contact forest service producers via the system. Metsään.fi is quite easy to use and it provides the forest owner many new flexible services, e.g. e-forms for applying subsidies. It’s a safe system, although being a public one.  A strong identification of the user is needed, use of Suomi.fi e-Identification is safe and provided by the state. Suomi.fi e-Identification contains a list of the identification tokens for example using online banking codes, mobile certificate or certificate cards

The Finnish Forest Centre collects and maintains remote sensing based data of forest resources covering the private forests. Metsään.fi is a free portal using that forest data for serving forest owners and forestry service providers. It has been found to encourage forest owners to carry out silvicultural works and generally for developing forest businesses. 

Metsään.fi in numbers in early 2020: 13,5 million hectares of forest data in the service, 108 765 forest owners have visited the service, 942 service providers have joined the service, 2461 operators use the service, 8,4 million hectares available to operators, 537 706 consents available to operators.

Fragmented ownership structure is one of the main challenges of wood mobilization in Europe. Small-sized, dispersed forest property with difficult access to forests results in high costs for timber harvesting per hectare. The joint forests have been established in Finland since the end of the 1800. In the beginning of 2019 there were 460 common forests in Finland. The establishment of the common forest and the incorporation to existing joint forests have recently become more widespread. The total area of common forests is growing and it is already more than 700 000 ha. There are about 25 000 stakeholder in the common forests of our country, and they include over 5% of the surface area of our private forest. The smallest common forest is less than 20 hectares, while the largest, Kuusamo common forest has over 90 000 hectares of territory. The largest common forests are in North-Eastern Finland.

Changes in the common forest law have facilitated the integration of common forests and the creation of new joint forests. The common forest can provide a good and workable solution to many objectives of modern forest ownership. The common forest is a shared forest area for operating sustainable forestry in favour of the shareholder forest estates. The common forests are privately owned and have no public-law character or obligation. According to the Common Forestry Act, common forest must be used primarily for operating sustainable forestry. Sustainable forestry includes economic, social and ecological sustainability. The shareholders of common forest decide how to emphasise the utilization of different areas for the purposes of sustainable forestry.

There is a need for raising awareness of the positive possibilities of forest consolidation, including:

• Bigger forest units with easier access to forest property
• More cost-efficiency in harvesting, smaller unit costs in work and supplies
• Ease of foundation and joining$Ease of owning forest
• Better forest management with constant profits
• Easier management and administration
• Tax relief, lower income taxation
• Better recreational possibilities
• Functional and democratic administration
• Simple and safe investment

Demand for forestry-service products is increasing. This means the service providers must be easy to reach and be able to offer all services needed by forest owner. Providers have to take into account the diverse forest owners groups and their needs regarding the management and use of forests.
So far, the challenge have been scattered services for forest owners.
Now many companies and entrepreneurs have started to offer full forest management services from one place.

Full service from one company/association is attracting forest owners to take care of their forests.
The change of the business environment aims at better competitiveness and cost-efficiency in forest management.

Network of associations offering full service of forest management for forest owners: guidance, planning, call for bids, comparing offers, harvesting, forest regeneration, digital services and forest estate
brokerage.

The fragmented ownership structure is one of the main challenges of wood mobilization in Europe. In Finland, 4 million hectares of forest area are in need of forest arrangements. Small-sized, dispersed forest property with difficult access to forests results in high costs for timber harvesting per hectare. Forest management and harvesting are more difficult in small estates since boundaries and forest vehicle paths take up most of the estate.

 
Through the process of forest estate arrangements, it is possible to form bigger forest estates for cost efficiency.  Arrangements can be made by changing estates among forest owners to shape the size and form of the forest estate. The arrangements might need trading forest estates.  A new forest consolidation and forest conservation are possible also. Forest road network and drainage need to be adapted for the new situation. The process takes usually 3-6 years depending on the area.

Forest estate arrangements lead to bigger forest estates units, which contribute to better forest management and harvesting. Forest owners become more active in taking care of their forests and forestry companies are more interested in mobilizing wood from better harvesting conditions and easier access to forest.  
To gain the benefits, more discussion and communication are needed around forest estates. Forest owners need to be activated in taking action concerning the arrangements of their forests. 

Bigger forest estates with easier access to forest property.
Better conditions for harvesting.
Cost-efficiency in harvesting and forest regeneration.
Active management of forests.
Easier management of forests.
Increased forest growth.
Tax relief and financial support for forest owners.

Knowledge transfer for climate sensitive forest management
Continuous education efforts, awareness rising, workshops for practitioners and interested people to convince them for an actively managed forest especially focused on the climate change items.
First of all small-scale private forest owners (about 70.000 in A with less than 5 ha) and new forest owners (not directly connected to farms and farmland) shall be informed about an active sustainable forest management (harvest).
On the other side consumers will be encouraged to use wood and wood products as much as possible

Small-scale private forest owners may be re-interested in forest management when they are properly informed about the challenges of climate change and adaptation.
Dissemination of knowledge has to address a broad public at its needs on a general level to raise awareness significantly
Top down initiatives always have to be supplemented with bottom up approaches to raise their effectiveness

National campaign 20126 - 2021
“The use of wood is good for the climate – we make forests climate fit”
Central messages – climate change creates new realities
#1
Climate Change is a fact – and it affects forests
#2
Paris Agreement enforces the signatories to move from talking to doing
#3
In Austria, temperatures increased by an average of 1,8 Deg C in the 20th century, with increases being recorded at all altitudes
#4
A crucial factor to make forests fit for climate change is adaptive forest management
#5
The forest- and wood-based sector plays a key role in climate change
#6
The efficient use of wood as a renewable raw material and energy carrier includes a considerable reduction in anthropogenic carbon
#7
Mitigation: the harvesting potential should be fully utilized considering general sustainable conditions to mitigate climate change
#8
Adaption: it needs active sustainable forest management practices in order to create stable and vital forest stands which withstand climate change induced disturbances, e.g. storms, diseases and droughts

The eMonte Operational Group, made up of the Madeira Cluster and the Design of Galicia (CMD), the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), E-Monte Forestry Solutions S.R.L. and Manuel Graña, was created in order to allow all the agents involved in the Galician forestry sector to carry out the tasks in a simpler way, from the application of ICT. The GO project works around www.eMonte.es, a new online portal that facilitates the purchase and sale of lots of wood between forest owners / communities of mountains and end companies.

This project started to work on August 2017 and since then, more than 150 wood batches have been purchased through its website. Besides, the success of this project (and the App) has allowed to create three more tools to help all the actors of the wood value chain: a web portal to sell forest properties, a tool to estimate the volume of wood of a forest and another tool to group small owners and helping them to sell their wood together

E-MONTE is the first Galician platform that facilitates the purchase / sale of stand trees. Its role is to unite forest owners and end companies. E-MONTE offers the owners a showcase in which to sell their wood. Once a batch has been published, the owner ensures good visibility, saves unnecessary travel and maximizes the results of the sale. With E-MONTE the paddling companies know all the available wood batches. Through the platform, they can access the characteristics of each batch before moving. Once they decide to enter a lot, they can do so without having to be accompanied by the owner through the E-MONTE APP. This allows them to save on personnel costs and travel expenses.