Economic profitability of forestry decisions on non-industrial private forest ownersthe key issue to sustainable management

Resumo

Sustaining the viability and continuity of farm forest holdings requires developing policy measures that improve or advance its forest and agrarian productivity regarding the socioeconomic perceptions and values of its managers. As a previous work and discussion of recent constraints related to sustainable forest practices by individual private forest (NIPF) owners, we analyse the key factors on individual forest profitability on an empirical study of their planting, silviculture and harvesting behaviours in a forest region in Northern Spain. The profitability was statistically characterized and explained as social, economic and policy variables. Our results explain how attractive conditions for timber market, as key factor, motivate the forest investment chain to make profitable lands by the owners. In this sense, maintaining and improving the rural economy and welfare by means of sustainable forest practices must consider the economic returns as fundamental issues which counteract the economic losses for including environmental constraints.