Pezdevšek Malovrh Špela, PhD.

Legislation and policy makers have recognized private forest owners cooperation in machinery ring as an instrument to support wood mobilization through efficient use of machinery. The study analyzes private forest owner's cooperation in the machinery ring in Slovenia and determines whether this cooperation contributes to wood mobilization from small-scale private forests. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the survey was conducted among the members of machinery rings at their annual general meetings (24 machinery rings participated in the survey, representing 64.9% of the total number of machinery rings). The questionnaire was distributed to all members present at the annual general meetings (n=529) and only those who were private forest owner or provided services within machinery rings were eligible to complete the questionnaire (n=438). In the second phase, data on the amount of service provided by machinery ring members were compared with the amount of felling in private forests for 2019 to gain insight into the extend of forestry work (timber harvesting) carried out in a private forest under neighbourhood assistance.The results show that machinery rings members are predominantly male, on average 50 years old, mainly with high school education and occupation in agriculture, owning on average 15.2 ha of forest. Regardless of forest management activities, machinery ring members perform forest management activities in their forest by themselves or with the help of family members. Only a small proportion of members use neighbourhood assistance to carry out the work. This most often occurs in the transport of timber. A very small proportion of members provide forest services through the machinery ring, but their scope of services is not insignificant. In 2019, machinery ring members most often performed harvesting activities with the chain saw, followed by timber skidding as a service. Equipment with machinery for providing services is good among members – about three quarters of them have a chainsaw and an adapted agricultural tractor, but this machinery is quite old, showing that machinery is insufficiently used for forestry operations. The results show that machinery rings are nowadays an essential part of strategic (operational) management in Slovenian agriculture and forestry, and provide important insights into the possibilities to improve forestry operations and the future development cooperation between private forest owners in machinery rings to support wood mobilization from small-scale private forests.

This study examines the factors that influence the decision-making rationality of private forest owners (PFOs) when implementing salvage logging after large-scale natural disturbances. The literature suggests two main responses to large large-scale natural disturbances: performing salvage logging and no salvage at all. When salvage logging is carried out, two different strategies can be applied: clearing, i.e. all trees are removed, including damaged trees and standing survivors; and salvaging, i.e. damaged trees are removed but the surviving trees are left and some dead trees are left standing. In an online survey conducted in Slovenia in March and April 2022, responses were collected from 1515 forest-owning households. A logistic regression model was created to analyse the data and understand how socio-demographic characteristics, characteristics of forest property, forest management activities and the market influence their decisions. The results show that previous management activities and cooperation with service providers significantly influence PFOs' decision-making rationality to implement salvage logging. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the complex decision-making processes in forestry. Future research opportunities lie in investigating specific aspects of past management activities and understanding the dynamics in cooperation between different actors to develop customised policies for effective forest management after large-scale natural disturbances.