Influence of Ownership and Property Structure on Willingness of Private Forest Owners to Cooperate Utjecaj Vlasničke I Posjedovne Strukture Na Spremnost Šumoposjednika Na Povezivanje

forest property (on average < 3 ha) and fragmentation (3 plots on average) (The Slovenian Forest Service, 2005). Private forest management is further hindered by constant processes in the society which are related to an increasing number of owners due to partible inheritance and the diminishing sizes of forest property as well as a fall in the percentage of rural population, which indirectly influences the socio-economic structure of the population (P e z d e v š e k M a l o v r h , 2006). Consequently, economical dependence of people on forests is decreasing, which is reflected in insufficient exploitation of natural resources as only two thirds of the potential timber removal in Slovenian private forests is implemented and less than half of silvicultural work according to forest management plans is carried out. (The Slovenian Forest Service ReThe study of private forest management has special importance due to the prevailing share of privatelyowned forests in Europe. In Slovenia, for example, 73 % of forests are privately owned. Private forest management is, especially in Slovenia, far from optimal, which is a result of a diverse ownership and property structure. That diversity is displayed in a large number of owners (around 314.000) and co-owners (around 489.000), small