South-East European Forestry (Dec 2014)
The Comparison of Innovations in Slovakian Forestry between 2002 and 2010 - a Shift to Multifunctionality?
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Innovations play an important role in multifunctional forestry due to changing demands for forest goods and services. The multifunctionality can be a result of a joint provision of several outputs from individual forest holding or specialized forest activities. The goal of this paper is to make a comparative analysis from data obtained in two surveys in 2002 and 2010 related to innovations in forest enterprises. The main focus was on ownership, size, and management strategy of forest. Materials and Methods: The paper presents the results of two surveys on innovation in the years 2002 and 2010 with more than 250 representatives - owners/managers of Slovak forest enterprises. The questionnaire in 2002 was sent out by regular mail in the random sample of 1072 forest owners and managers. The response rate was 25 % (in total 279 respondents). The response rate in 2010 was 37 %, and the number of valid responses was 254. The willingness of forest managers to implement innovation was evaluated in the context of different sizes of forest holdings, management strategies and property conditions. Log linear statistics models (Pearson Chi-square) were applied using the software Statistica for data analysis and Microsoft Excel to present the results. Results: This paper presents the development of innovations in order to reach the multifunctionality on the case of Slovakian forestry. Product innovations have doubled from 17 % in 2002 to 34 % in 2010. Large-sized holdings are significantly (p < 0.01) more engaged in innovation and are offering new products. The highest overall innovation activity is revealed in the state-owned enterprises, intermediary in the municipal forests, and the lowest in the private holdings. Forest managers who realized the benefits of innovation were “profit increasing” oriented. Forest managers who did not realize the benefits of implementing innovations preferred conservative management goals - the capital maintenance. The innovative behaviour of managers depends significantly on forest managers’ goals and their strategy (p < 0.05). The comparison between the two periods shows that innovation activity has increased from technological innovation to products and services. Wood still remains the main product of forest holdings, but compared to 2002, the importance of bio energy becomes visible. Conclusions: Results show that innovation activity has increased during the time. There was a shift towards innovation from 2002 to 2010 which is visible in the successful innovation cases.
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