Swedish forest commons — A matter of governance
Around 100years ago, when Crown land in the interior of northern Sweden was privatized, part of the forest land was set aside as forest commons. Today, there are 33 such forest commons jointly managed and owned in common mainly by private forest owners. The forest commons may be looked upon as a means by which the state controls the production of and returns from the forests belonging to small and less affluent forest owners. Further, an attempt has been made to use the forests as a tool to move the self-interests of these small forest owners closer to providing public goods.