”Finnish forest owners are gradually getting younger. In 2030, the average age of forest owners will be about 50 year, whereas now it is 60,” says Ms. Anna-Kaisa Rämö, Forest Economist at the Pellervo Economic Research Institute PTT.
In 2030 a typical forest owner will also be much more highly educated than now and as many as half of them will be women, as was found in the study. The number of forest owners living in the municipality where their forest is situated will continue to decrease.
According to Rämö, this change will affect attitudes slowly but inevitably. The significance of what are called softer values and protection will increase, but at the same time, concern over the availability of timber continues. The needs and values of forest owners will become more and more varied and forests will be more obviously used for multiple purposes. This brings challenges to forest professionals, as all these needs must be harmonised in a forest holding. Also, the need for services will grow.
Finns are wealthier than ever and timber sale revenues represent a smaller share in the total income of households. A study by the Work Efficiency Institute TTS, shows that for 43 percent of the forest owners, the timber sales revenue made up less than five percent of the household’s net income in 2000–2005. The PTT study found that so far during this decade, the average age of becoming a forest owner has been 55 years. At that age, the owners do not need felling revenues for instance to pay for their first apartment.
Executive Director of the Finnish Forest Foundation Liisa Mäkijärvi says that people do not understand that a 15- to 30-hectare holding can bring economic benefits. ”In addition, young people do not understand that there is a connection between forests and the raw material used by the forest industry. 64 percent of those surveyed considered it important to ensure that the forest industry gets the timber it needs.
However, an equal number thought that the forests should mainly be used for outings and recreation, and only eight percent felt that the forest should be used mainly for forestry. They have not understood where the industry’s raw material comes from,” Mäkijärvi continues.