‘Non-agricultural forest owners’ in Austria – a new type of forest ownership

This article aims to present two completely separate studies conducted in the past two years in Austria, in order to draw attention to the latent transformation of the ownership structure of forest owners and their interests in forests and forestry. In small-scale forests, changes in ownership are inseparably linked to the structural development of agriculture and are revealed by the shift of forest ownership from farmers to non-farmers through inheritance or other property transfers. As a consequence, the general trend is an increasing number of ‘non-agricultural forest owners’. These so-called ‘non-agricultural forest owners’ or ‘non-agricultural forest owners’ are living in more urban areas, having non-agricultural professions and are relying on other sources of income than primary production. The results of a qualitative study indicated that the forestland from ‘non-agricultural forest owners’ is viewed from a more socially oriented perspective with concern for enjoyment and utilization of timber for own needs and by coming generations. The question, how many ‘non-agricultural forest owners’ in Austria exist is still not answered. However, it can be assumed that the amount of this type of forest owners could increase.