Factors influencing private forest owners’ readiness to engage in business cooperation : Case study of Slovenia

Uhan, Zala (author), Krajnc, Nike (author), Pezdevšek Malovrh, Špela (author)

In countries where private forest ownership prevails, wood mobilisation largely depends on the interest and commitment of private forest owners (PFOs) to manage their forests. In Slovenia, where 77% of forests are privately owned but insufficiently managed, this issue is particularly important. Governments not only in Slovenia, but also in other EU countries, have responded to this challenge of wood mobilisation by proposing various policy instruments, addressing the importance of PFO business cooperation both among themselves and with forest service providers. This study aims to find out: 1) whether there is a potential for business cooperation among PFOs; 2) which of the existing business organisational forms are appropriate for PFOs and 3) how property characteristics, forest management activity, forest management objectives and PFOs’ socio-demographic and economic characteristics influence PFOs readiness to engage into business cooperation. Based on the results, policy recommendations were developed to increase the share of PFO cooperating in business organisational forms in Slovenia. An online survey conducted in March and April 2022 among randomly selected Slovenian households owning forests provided data for two logistic regression models. The results show that PFOs are in general ready to engage in business cooperation; however, according to them, none of the currently existing forms of business cooperation is considered as very appropriate. The model »cooperation with other PFOs in business organisational forms« suggests that PFOs readiness to engage is influenced by forest management objectives related to carbon sequestration, wood and biomass production for personal use and for the market, as well as preserving forests as an investment for the future, PFO age and level of education. The model »cooperation with forest service providers« shows that PFOs readiness to engage is influenced by forest management objectives related to biodiversity conservation and wood and biomass production for personal use and for the market, as well as by PFO level of education. To motivate PFOs to engage into business cooperation, forest policy decision makers must take a holistic transformation of forest policy. To achieve the desired forest policy outcomes, the transformation should incorporate innovative and supportive policy instruments.

• Language: English
• Keywords: private forests, forest service providers, organisational forms, wood mobilisation, survey, logistic regression model
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 395-411
• Numbering: Vol. 47, iss. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184118
• UDC: 630*92:630*682
• ISSN on article: 1848-9672
• DOI: 10.5552/crojfe.2026.4533
• COBISS.SI-ID: 274618627
• Publication date in RUL: 29.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Croatian journal of forest engineering
• Shortened title: Croat. j. for. eng.
• Publisher: Forestry Faculty of Zagreb University, Croatian Forests, Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers, FORMEC
• ISSN: 1848-9672
• COBISS.SI-ID: 55971331

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: zasebni gozdovi, ponudniki gozdarskih storitev, organizacijske oblike, mobilizacija lesa, anketa

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: V4-2013
• Name: Učinkovitejše gospodarjenje z zasebnimi gozdovi v podporo večji mobilizaciji lesa