Making gender visible: Objectives and socio-demographic differences among women forest owners

Juulia Kuhlman, Sami Berghäll and Annukka Vainio

Forest Policy and Economics, 2023, vol. 151, issue C

Abstract: Women forest owners represent a large share of non-industrial private forest owners in Western countries. Gender affects many aspects of forest ownership, and women are underrepresented in forestry, forest organisations and forestry practices. The objective of this study is to improve the understanding of women forest owners' objectives and their relationship with socio-demographic attributes. The study reports the results of a subsample of women forest owners (n = 3066) in a survey of Finnish forest owners conducted in 2019 as part of the Finnish Forest Owner 2020 research project. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a new five-dimensional objective structure. In addition to two more traditional economic and income-related dimensions, the analysis also identified the dimensions of recreation and leisure time, heritage, and aesthetics and conservation. This indicates that women forest owners' objectives are more diverse than those of men. Investigation of the impact of socio-economic attributes, education, income, residential area, place of residence and the manner in which the forest was obtained revealed significant differences. The results help us understand women forest owners and their objectives and differences, enabling better designed policies and services that can engage a wider base of forest owners. Engaging all forest owners regardless of gender or the nature of their objectives is important to safeguard the viability and acceptability of the forest sector in Finland and to ensure that Finnish forests are managed in a way that reflects the needs and wishes of society and forest owners.

Keywords: Women forest owner; Gender; Non-industrial private forest owner; Forest owner objectives; Exploratory factor analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:forpol:v:151:y:2023:i:c:s1389934123000618

DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2023.102966

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