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Table 4
Domestic forest sector
Type of Production
Number of Businesses
Forestry and forest management
(excludes ~150,000 small private forest owners) ~ 4000
Timber product manufacturing ~ 1400
Furniture and related products ~ 1800
Source: Lursoft database 2004
Figure 3
Dynamics of logging volume
mill. m 3
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
Source: Dynamics of Logging volume 2000-2003 - www.vmd.gov.lv
Subsistence vs. Commercial Forestry
Although official statistics on subsistence forestry are not available, a State Forest
Service survey (SFS 2001) of forest owners provides some valuable insights on uses of
privately owned forests. Although many respondents considered the forest to be the
most important part of their land holding, only 3 percent indicated they got regular
income from forest management; moreover, these owners all had holdings of 30 ha or
more. The majority of owners (60 percent) had not received any income from their
forests, while the remaining 37 percent reported receiving occasional income.
Interestingly, in an evaluation of forest values, income from forestry received the lowest
rating. The highest rating was assigned to the forest “as an object to be inherited
by successors and for creating an awareness of ownership.” Owners also gave a high
rating to the forest as a source of firewood.
These data indicate that subsistence uses of the forest, uses of non-timber forest
products, and entirely non-material uses are more important to many forest owners
yale school of forestry & environmental studies