TITLE:
History of Joint Ownership of Forests in Finland in the Context of European Forest Commons
AUTHORS:
Harri Siiskonen
KEYWORDS:
Forest Commons, Forest Ownership, Finland, Sweden, Europe
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Historical Studies,
Vol.11 No.3,
July
29,
2022
ABSTRACT: In Europe the history of forest commons dates back
to the Middle Ages and some of them are still performing well. The formation of
modern states in Europe favoured privatisation of previously communally managed
property, including forest commons. Privatisation of state lands proceeded in
Finland in the nineteenth century, but at the same time there was a need to
establish co-owned forests to settle the landless population. The first part of
the study focuses on exploring the development of the system of co-owned
forests in Finland since the late nineteenth century until 2020. How has the
Finnish system of co-owned forests responded to societal and economic changes
during the long time frame of the study? The co-ownership of forests, called
jointly owned forests in Finland, has had similarities with European and particularly
with Swedish forest commons, but there have also been several differences. The second part of the study aims to approach the present
Finnish system in the context of European, particularly Swedish, forest
commons. Among the international research community development and special
characteristics of the Finnish system of joint ownership of forests are poorly
known.