Social aspect of forestry land use balance in Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the social component of forestry land use for decision-making at the national level to ensure the balanced use of forestlands both at the regional level and at the level of state forest enterprises. Theoretical and methodological bases of the research are based on the analysis of a set of social, economic and ecological indicators of reporting of forestry enterprises as indicators of the state of use of forest lands in the context of balanced development. Several aspects of the activity of the state forest enterprises in the period 2016-2020 by regions and climatic zones were studied in detail, and the scope of forest certification in Ukraine was assessed for a better ecological understanding of social processes in forestry in the country. A positive relationship with a significant correlation rate (r = 0.9078) is proved between the capital investments in forestry production and employment in the forest sector. In addition, fluctuations of the capital investments correlate with the staff qualification (r = 0.816). Assessment results for the level of technical provision of forestry enterprises point to the relationships between the level of technical provision and labour productivity (r = 0.7515) and the level of staff qualification (r = 0.7494). The strength of the relationship between labour productivity and labour remuneration varies over the regions of Ukraine with the correlation rate ranging between 0.7222 and 0.9852. We discuss key asymmetries, interactions and conflicts based on natural and regional specifics of forestry land use. Based on the results of the assessment of the relationships and dynamics of selected indicators, the present study substantiates the necessity to take into account both national and stakeholders’ interests in view of the social aspects of forestry land use with a focus on balance. Regional imbalance in income and labour productivity, insufficient training of employees, insufficient government funding and certification of forests, no practice of carbon units accounting at the regional and local levels, illegal felling are proven to be the restraining factors of the social balance of forestry land use. The results obtained in the study could help to identify potential levers of influence to ensure the balance of forestry land use and a better understanding of the social balance of forestry activities of enterprises.