Private owners of natural woodlands of the forest: the case of the Chaîne des Puys

Abstract

The current and future management of spontaneous reforested space depends first and foremost on the landowners. In order to know them better, a field study was conducted in a village of the Chaîne des Puys (a volcanic massif of the French Massif Central). After having identified the owners of spontaneously reforested areas by comparing the land register with a map of the vegetation, a fifth of them were interviewed. The questionnaire included a series of semi-open questions concerning the value of the land, the owner's management and his projects and a series of scenarios to determine his management strategy and the conditions under which he might support possible future projects. The private landowners inherited the forest extensions. Since they were not responsible for the current situation they did not wish to invest time or money to give value to a potential which they judged mediocre. They preferred to continue to maintain the plots which were already maintained.