Private Forestry Policy in Western Europe

Private ownership is the main form of tenure of woodlands and forests in Britain and Western Europe. Recent changes in legislation in the UK concerning financial aspects of forest ownership, plus the advent of the single European market, are likely to increase the interest of foreign investment in afforestation. Against this background the Scottish Forestry Trust commissioned a study to examine policies for private forestry across Western Europe. This book is an outcome of this study, which had four main purposes: to describe policy towards private forestry in several European countries; to identify methods of policy formulation and trends in the content and balance of objectives for such policies; to describe methods of implementing policy and quantify the financial implications; and to suggest changes in implementation methods that might be appropriate to Britain. The book will interest academics and practitioners concerned with forestry, from the perspectives of economics, policy-making, planning or investment.