pcSKOG-gård is a computerised manager plan for private forest owners, developed by the pcSKOG AB. The program is based on forest stand data, joined with a map of the forest and GIS-applications. The purpose is to offer a program for private forest owners managing the forest and with the possibility of updating the actual status of the forest. The company pcSKOG AB is the leading producer of programs for forest management and has developed the program since 1997. The program is currently the most common program used by private forest owners in Sweden. The aim of this thesis, leading to MSc in forestry, is to investigate the purpose of the private forest owners when purchasing the pcSKOG-gård. The thesis also studies how private forest owners use the program, what they use it for and how the private forest owners state that the program has achieved to fulfil their expectations. The thesis is also a market research concerning the knowledge and attitudes the private forest owners have about the program and associated services. The study material has been collected during two phases.

After the mandatory rules for clearing was removed in 1994, the clearing area has increased in Sweden. After the storms Gudrun and Per, the areas became planted with new plants, mainly spruce, but also other tree species. Storm areas are now being invaded by naturally rejuvenated birch in the tilling tracks. Since the birch often is initially growing faster than the spruce it is inhibiting the growth and is also damaging the spruce. The purpose of this thesis is to study the new brush saw with chain and compare it with the conventional clearing saw, mainly in terms of performance and ergonomics. The results show that the new brush saw with chain is very good in almost all clearing operations compared to the conventional clearing saw.

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 %.

Forest ebeaver is, equipped as a bio-energy harvester, approximately four and a half meter long and weigh just over two tons. The main purpose of this report is to find out whether a small machine like Forest ebeaver can be profitable used in early thinning. To find this out a study has been made using the machine to thin in a young pine stand..

After the mandatory rules for clearing was removed in 1994, the clearing area has increased in Sweden. After the storms Gudrun and Per, the areas became planted with new plants, mainly spruce, but also other tree species. Storm areas are now being invaded by naturally rejuvenated birch in the tilling tracks. Since the birch often is initially growing faster than the spruce it is inhibiting the growth and is also damaging the spruce. The purpose of this thesis is to study the new brush saw with chain and compare it with the conventional clearing saw, mainly in terms of performance and ergonomics. The results show that the new brush saw with chain is very good in almost all clearing operations compared to the conventional clearing saw.

Each year, Heterobasidion spp. is a major cause of economic losses to forestry in the northernhemisphere, including Sweden. New results indicate that pre?commercial thinnings could be at riskfor Heterobasidion spp. infections.

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.

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.

This study shows the historical development of the forests in Hornsö and Ebbegärde state forest area in eastern Småland situated in southern Sweden..

This report has been done in collaboration with SCA Skog, Norrbottens Forest Management Area. The purpose of the survey is to try to find out what the forest owners who either live in Norrbottens Forest Management area or outside but has their forest holdings in the administrative area has the vision of SCA Forest and their forest services offered by the administration. But also to find out the presences of other timber buying players who procures timber in the administrative area. This study seeks to determine if there are deficiencies that may need changes or improvements to the prevailing conditions in Norrbottens management area. The literature study is about how to design a questionnaire based on what you want to know and what to consider in order to eliminate the problem of constructing a questionnaire. A questionnaire was sent to 400 randomly selected forest owners who have their forest holdings within SCA Forest Norrbotten Management Area. And of the 400, it was 181 respondents with 39 women and 138 men.

The main purpose of this essay is to examine if it is possible to identify farms of ?forest Finnish? people in Sweden, by means of an archaeological analysis, comparing the forest Finnish settlement with known none-forest Finnish settlements. This study is based on material excavated from the farms of Grannäs, and Råsjö, in the Swedish provinces of Jämtland and Medelpad. Both farms are dated to the 17th and 18th century. The study itself is divided into three parts, firstly a general study to get an overview of the material, secondly a study of ceramics as an attempt to discern social status and lastly a study of the animal bone material for analyzing the forest Finns? livestock and possible hunting habits.

Disturbances, such as fire and wind, are important for saproxylic beetles (= beetles depending on decaying wood) to gain substrate in boreal forests. Clear-cutting is an example of a man-made disturbance. Measures such as prescribed burning have been made to resemble natural disturbances. The aim of this study was to see which clear-cut characteristics are important for the occurrence of the saproxylic beetle Upis ceramboides. This is a species favored by open habitats and is said to respond positively to forest fires. The distribution area in Sweden for this species has decreased during the last two centuries and I wanted to see if there were differences between clear-cuts in Hälsingland, where it is very rare and decreasing, and Norrbotten where this study was conducted.

Low stumps represent on their own up to 80% of the dead wood remaining on clear cuts and therefore supply suitable habitat for saproxylic insects i.e. insects depending on dead wood for their survival. Recent stump harvesting activities threaten this substrate of ecological importance and increase the anthropogenic negative impacts on these species. Because of technical and environmental reasons (nutrient leakage, erosion) guidelines for stump harvesting recommend to retain stumps standing in wet parts of clear cuts. However, stumps in wet positions might not be a satisfactory substrate for saproxylic insects and therefore might not be as much used as stumps in dry positions.

This thesis is my exploration of the immaterial heritage that is the craft of bending of ?dn?ris? out of spruce. It?s a broken tradition that is scarcely described, mainly through Yngve Ryd?s report T?ltk?tor (1999) that contains interviews with two knowledge keepers, Nilas Tuolja and Johan Rassa. Yngve Ryd?s report went against the earlier opinion by the mid 20th century ethnologist Ernst Manker who claimed that they were only made exclusively out of mountain birch that has curved growth. As a background, I discuss the special importance of heritage conservation, both material and immaterial, in a S?mi context as being an indigenous people.

Sweden is in the initial phase of forming a national forest programme (nfp). The establishment of an nfp has been evoked by international policy developments and a national debate questioning Swedish forestry and forest policy. National forest programmes are participatory processes for the development and implementation of forest-related policies and international commitments. Hence, the aim of this master thesis is to assess the stakeholders? acceptance of participation and integration of international issues within the Swedish national forest programme.