Factors Influencing Private Forest Owners’ Readiness to Perform Forest Management Services Within a Machinery Ring

The cooperation of private forest owners has been recognized in many European countries, including Slovenia, as a key forest policy instrument to support sustainable management of private forests and implement policy objectives. In Slovenia, private forest owners have the opportunity to cooperate in machinery rings (an organised form of neighbourhood assistance as an association of farmers and private forest owners) to solve forest management related problems and more efficiently use of mechanization. The aim of this study is to determine the readiness of private forest owner to perform forest management services within machinery rings and to understand how property characteristics, forest management activities and owners’ socio-demographic characteristics influence their decisions. In 2020, a survey of machinery rings members (n = 438) was conducted in which 24 machinery rings participated, representing 64,9% of the total number of machinery rings currently operating in Slovenia. The results show that only 18,3% of the machinery ring member perform forest management services within the machinery ring. A random utility model results showed that the readiness of private forest owners to perform forest management services within a machinery ring is influenced by forest property size and owners age. To motivate private forest owners to perform a forest management activity within a machinery ring more frequently, it is important to identify the profile of owners ready to perform services and provide a mix of innovative and supportive policy instruments to achieve the desired forest policy outcomes.