The data on forest owners were obtained from the Puruvesi region in eastern Finland, where 65% of the forests are owned by small-scale private forest owners. The study sample included forest owners in the Puruvesi region selected from three distinct subcatchments, each of which holds significant importance for water conservation. Within the designated sample area, there were 501 forest owners managing approximately 9600 hectares of forest land, identified through the Finnish Forest Center registry. To ensure a representative sample of forest owners within the study area, a postal survey method was chosen due to the limited availability of email addresses for a potential Internet survey. The survey was administered in two phases by an external research organization, Taloustutkimus OY. The initial phase of data collection occurred in March 2023, when the survey forms were dispatched to forest owners in one of the case areas (n = 162). A follow-up email reminder was sent to those with known email addresses (76 individuals) after 10 days, and a second postal survey was dispatched approximately 20 days later, towards the end of April, to those who had not responded initially (133 individuals). Following this process, 39 forest owners returned the survey, serving as a pilot phase to confirm the feasibility of the survey instrument. Since the survey measures operated satisfactorily and the response rate was adequate, in the second phase the same survey forms were sent to forest owners by mail in two additional case areas, totaling 339 recipients, in July 2023. A follow-up postal survey was sent a month later to the 316 non-respondents. Additionally, email reminders were sent to those with known email addresses (135 forest owners) at the end of August. By the beginning of October 2023, a total of 63 individuals had returned the survey forms. The combination of datasets from the two collection phases yielded a final sample of 102 forest owners (n = 39 and n = 63), resulting in a response rate of 20.4%.

2025