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1 August 2017 Assessing the Economic Situation of Small-Scale Farm Forestry in Mountain Regions: A Case Study in Austria
Philipp Toscani, Walter Sekot
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Abstract

Austria is one of the few countries with a long tradition of monitoring the economic performance of forest holdings. The national Farm Accountancy Data Network also addresses some forestry-specific issues, given the high significance of farm forestry in this country. However, it is not possible to assess the profitability of small-scale farm forestry in mountainous regions based on a representative sample. In this paper, we demonstrate how information gaps can be overcome by means of economic modeling and present results of this approach for mountain forestry for the first time. In spite of the unfavorable conditions of an alpine setting, forestry tends to be of special significance for the viability and resilience of family farms in these regions. Sustainable forest management that safeguards the ecosystem services provided by forests relies mostly on the profitability of timber production. Thus, the economic development of farm forestry is a key factor in achieving targets 15.1 and 15.4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in mountain regions.

© 2017 Toscani and Sekot. This open access article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please credit the authors and the full source.
Philipp Toscani and Walter Sekot "Assessing the Economic Situation of Small-Scale Farm Forestry in Mountain Regions: A Case Study in Austria," Mountain Research and Development 37(3), 271-280, (1 August 2017). https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-16-00106.1
Received: 1 May 2017; Accepted: 1 July 2017; Published: 1 August 2017
KEYWORDS
Agenda 2030
Family farming
Farm Accountancy Data Network
Forest accountancy data network
mountain forestry
ratio analysis
small-scale farm forestry
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