Privata markägares syn på vindskadeförebyggande åtgärder
Wind and wind damage has become a hot subject because of the storm ?Gudrun? in January 2005. The main purpose of this study was to establish how the land owners attitude toward preventive wind damage actions was changing immediately after they had been struck by a storm.
The result of the study was built on interviews. In springtime 2005 a total number of 20 private land owners were interviewed. Ten of the landowners lived in the province of Småland and ten in the province of Värmland. The landowners in Småland had some wind damage from a storm in January 2005 whereas the land owners in Värmland had not. The study was largely based on a comparison between these two groups. A great deal of the study was put on the attitude towards preventive wind damage action in the forest before and after the storm in 2005.
The interviews showed that most of the private land owners earlier had made some preventive wind damage actions in their forest, regardless if they had their land in Småland or Värmland. Whether the preventive wind damage actions that earlier was made had affected the amount of damage in the forests was not a big difference between Småland and Värmland. Six land owners in Småland and five in Värmland thought that the preventive wind damage actions had a positive effect in the forest. In comparison to the landowners in Värmland the land owners in Småland (that recently was struck by the storm ?Gudrun?) was more motivated to manage their forest differently in the future (8/10). Eight of the ten land owners in Småland thought that wind damage insurance were necessary and 6/10 in Värmland.
Most of the interviewed land owners in Småland thought that the risk of being affected by wind damage was big (6/10) before the storm in 2005, the remaining thought that the risk was small. The land owners in Värmland thought that the risk was slightly less and four out of ten thought that the risk was big. The remaining thought that the risk was small. After the storm 2005 the land owners risk awareness was higher. Eight out of ten land owners in Småland thought that the risk of being affected by wind damage in the future was big, one thought the risk was very big and one thought the risk was small. Five of the landowners in Värmland thought the risk in the future was big, two thought the risk was very big and three thought the risk was small.
The fact that the land owners in Småland thought that they should manage their forest differently in the future and that they thought that wind damage insurance is necessary was probably dependent on the fact that their forests was recently struck by wind damage.