Ownership of forest and woodland
Some 60% of the forest and woodland in the Netherlands is publicly owned; the rest is owned by a large number of private parties.
| Ownership of forest and woodland in the Netherlands 1991-2000 | |||
| Category of ownership | 1991 | 1995 | 2000 |
| % of Forest Capital larger than 5 hectares | |||
| Ownership under private law | 37 | 36 | 41 |
| - Owned by private parties | 24 | 22 | 22 |
| - Owned by nature conservation organisations | 12 | 13 | 19 |
| Ownership under public law | 64 | 64 | 59 |
| - State Forest Service | 32 | 33 | 32 |
| - Other state ownership | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| - Municipalities | 19 | 18 | 16 |
| - Other ownership under public law | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Source: Bosschap. | LEI/NC/Oct02 | ||
Trends
Some 60% of the forest and woodland (larger than 5 hectares) in the Netherlands is owned by public organisations, in particular Staatsbosbeheer (the State Forest Service), the Dienst Domeinen (the State Property Department, the department at the Finance Ministry that manages state property and real estate), the Ministry of Defence, the provinces, municipalities and water boards. The percentage fell somewhat in the course of the 1990s. The other 40% is privately owned, either by such organisations as Natuurmonumenten (The Society for the Preservation of Nature Reserves in the Netherlands) or by private parties, such as owners of country estates. There has been an increase in the area of forest and woodland owned by nature conservation organisations.
There are more than 1500 private owners of more than 5 hectares of forest or woodland. Together they own some 59 000 hectares, i.e. rather more than half the forest and woodland in private hands and more than a fifth of all the country's forest and woodland (of at least 5 hectares). Over the past decade, there has been a slight fall in the area of forest and woodland in private hands, from 24 to 22%.
Data collected in 2001 by the Meetnet Functievervulling Bos (Woodland Monitoring Network) indicate that the total area of forest and woodland in private hands, regardless of whether this is larger or smaller than 5 hectares, is approx. 121 000 hectares. This means that the half of the country's forest and woodland that is in private hands (121 000 minus 59 000 ha) consists of areas smaller than 5 hectares. In other words, ownership of private forest and woodland is highly fragmented. Initial figures produced by the Woodland Monitoring Network show that 35% of the total area of forest and woodland in the Netherlands (whether larger or smaller than 5 hectares) is in private hands.
Technical note
The indicator is largely based on data provided by the Bosschap, the forestry industry board, which registers all owners of at least 5 hectares of forest or woodland. Some of the 59 000 hectares of privately owned forest or woodland is in the hands of organisations governed by private law. A total of some 270 000 hectares is registered with the Bosschap.
The Woodland Monitoring Network involves a systematic sample survey covering 3600 points over a four-year period (2001-2004) (Dirkse et al., 2002). A quarter of these points were included in 2001.
References
- Berger, E.P., J.M. van den Hoek en J. Luijt (2001). Bedrijfsuitkomsten in de Nederlandse particuliere bosbouw over 2000. Rapport 1.01.04 Landbouw Economisch Instituut. Den Haag.
- Bosschap (2001). Jaarverslag 2000 '2000 op hoofdlijnen'. Bosschap. Zeist.
- Dirkse, G.M., W.P. Daamen en H. Schoonderwoerd (2002). Het Nederlandse bos in 2001. Expertisecentrum LNV. Wageningen.
