The need of raw material does of course fluctuate but the long term view is an increasing demand due to the growing consumption of sawn timber products, pulp, paper and lately also biomass. This has led to a keener competition for wood. At the same time there is an ongoing structural change of a significant part in the Swedish wood supply market, the private forest owners. In 1992, 22 % of Sweden´s 335 000 private forest owner lived apart from their forest. In 2007 this figure had risen to 36 %.

Conditions for Swedish forestry are expected to change in the future due to the climate. Among other things, increased production is expected in a warmer climate, mainly because of a longer growing season. With the changing climate risk of damage by such as insects, fungi and storms are expected to increase. Hence, it is of highest importance for private forest owners to spread these risks in the way they cultivate their forest. In this study a qualitative method was used to examine ten private forest owners with forest properties within Kronoberg county, Sweden in their attitudes and actions to prepare in terms of climate change and if they have been affected by the climate change debate in their forest decisions.

The Swedish government has set up 16 environmental goals for Sweden to achieve. One ofthem is ?Living forests?, which is the foundation for the ?National strategy for the formalprotection of forests?. The ?National strategy? puts the private forest owner at the centre ofattention in order to achieve the environmental goal ?Living forests?.

In the forest sector, non-industrial private forest (NIPF) owners commonly interact with numerous stakeholders (e.g. forest managers, timber buyers, harvesting contractors and advisors) for counseling, planning, selling and hiring. Forest management is therefore built and influenced by the relationships between NIPF owners and other stakeholders. In the local context of a Southern Sweden, the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA) and the Southern Forest Owners Association (SÖDRA) are very influential stakeholders in small-scale forest management. Based on qualitative interviews and by means of grounded theory, an analysis of the relationships between NIPF owners and the mentioned organizations was carried out in order to understand the social context at the genesis of forest management decisions.

This study is done on behalf of Södra skogsägarna in the autumn of 2012. The main purpose of the study is to get an explanation to why some of the members are passive in their forestry, and how Södra can stimulate them to become more active. To achieve this a questionnaire study was conducted on the members of Södra in the community of Gislaved. The result of the study shows that there are many different factors that influence whether the forest owner is active or not. Examples of those factors are timber prices, the forest owner's objectives and the forest owner's financial situation. The main goal for the forest owners in the survey was to obtain high economic result and to increase the standing timber volume for the next generation.

Different groups in the forestry sector were likely to have different views regarding the responsibility for an environmentally sustainable forestry and the benefits of certification and this study aimed to examine the attitudes that existed in the forestry sector to the certification schemes FSC and PEFC. In the study a survey and a questionnaire were sent out to different groups. The investigation was made with respect to three groups: forest owners, forest contractors and employees working with the certification schemes on a daily basis at the forest company Södra. The groups agreed that the owner of the forest had the main responsibility for an environmentally sustainable forestry. The study revealed that all three groups highly valued the environmental aspect of certification.

The goal of this work is to get as good a basis as possible to explain what the owners want for products and services when those doing business with buying groups in Korsnäs purchases regions: Gävleborg, Dalarna, Uppland and Frövi. It should also provide Korsnäs knowledge of the most important factors to consider in business with the owners. Another important aspect is to find out what you have done better at the business with owners, to eventually be able to preserve and take them into account. 300 questionnaires sent out to randomly selected owners in these regions. This is to find out what the owners did not have the products/services of Korsnäs. 29 questions were asked in the affected areas to identify what was missing and to eventually be able to satisfy them.

The private forest owners play a key role in the supply of round wood to the Swedish forest industry. Today it is a keen competition between forest companies about the wood from private forest owners. In order to get access to the wood from the private forestry you need to be an attractive collaboration partner, who can offer long-term collaboration, service at top-level, and acting for good prices to the forest owners. This work aims at analysing the situation on the market today. It gives Sveaskog purchase department a good view of the forest owners? opinion in general about the existing purchase activities. Forestry service level and timber prices are determining factors for a successful relationship between forest company and forest owner.

Forest management plans have been sold to private forest owners by wood supplying companies for a long time. These plans are considered to be effi-cient tools to identify measures and wood volumes, and are simply a starting point for discussions between private forest owners and round wood pur-chasers. However, large variations are observed between different purchas-ers, in their usage of the plans. The purpose of this report is to identify to what extent a forest management plan can promote an increase in the amount of wood which a round wood purchaser can obtain and to find differences in the way of using the plans between different wood purchasers. Furthermore, the purpose is also to ana-lyse if varying owner structures can be underlie variations in the selling of forest management plans. Qualitative interviews with nine of Stora Enso?s round wood purchasers were performed.

Social capital is a relatively new concept that has received considerable attention in various community branches. The concept relates to people?s contact and relationship with each other, where their social network is seen as a resource. An extensive network of contacts and trust between people often go hand in hand. People with high social capital have high trust in their fellow human beings and vice versa.

The development of technology and the mechanization in the Swedish forestry has during the last 60 years resulted in depopulation of the country side and due to that the amount of distance forest owners has increased. Therefore the forest companies need to make some adjustments in order to keep the distance forest owners as customers and to attract new ones. The purpose of this essay was to examine and analyze the distance forest owners satisfaction with Södras service offering and quality of service and further develop some proposals for action. A web-based survey was sent out to 634 distance forests owners in Stockholm, Sweden, all members of Södra. 269 respondents participated in the survey and of them, 27 did also participate in a follow-up telephone interview.

Data retrieved from airborne laser scanning represents a new source of forest data. Today, the technology has matured so that it can function in an operational environment. The aim of this study was to compile areas of application of laserdata in forestry. Moreover to analyze costs and accessibility of laserdata. The goal was to provide private forest owners information to support assessments of possible benefits of laserdata.

Today, a large proportion of wood supplied for the Swedish forest industry is bought from private forest owners while forest companies at the same time provide the forest owners with services such as logging services and transportation. Today, forest companies work extensively with keeping the time used for transport and logging short. But what does the private forest owners think about the time required for the timber deal, also called lead time, and the different parts of the timber deal. In this thesis, the forest owners? perception of the different lead times in their contracts with Stora Enso and their communication with the purchasers is examined.

Data retrieved from airborne laser scanning represents a new source of forest data. Today, the technology has matured so that it can function in an operational environment. The aim of this study was to compile areas of application of laserdata in forestry. Moreover to analyze costs and accessibility of laserdata. The goal was to provide private forest owners information to support assessments of possible benefits of laserdata.

Södra is a co-operative of private forest owner organisation which is owned by 35 000 private forest owers in southern Sweden. Forest owners in Sweden can choose to certify their Forestry. Södra uses PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) as their certification scheme for their members. Those who choose to certify their forest are obligated to follow the demands for forestry which PEFC requires. A ?Green? forestry plan is another important tool in the ambition to reach a sustainable forestry.