The study conceptualizes economic forest sustainability as “the forest-related income and economic well-being sustained over time” and then compares Lithuania and Sweden at different scales. Sweden adopts a holistic perspective of the forest sector, where forestry and forest industries are perceived as a well-integrated economic branch. Forestry is expected to deliver raw material to forest industries, at the same time creating good preconditions for profitable forest management. Forest owners are given large freedom to act according to market signals and their own household needs, while the resulting intensive forest management cumulatively leads to a significant contribution to the country’s welfare. Lithuania, in contrast, lacks an integrated sector perspective, forestry and forest industries being regarded as two separate realms. Private forest property rights are severely constrained by numerous legislative stipulations, leading to a significant reduction of economic value in production forests. On top of that, thirty percent of private owners face additional restrictions through forestland zoning, leading to further substantial loss of economic value. We suggest several measures for improving the economic forest sustainability in Lithuania, where a genuine national forest program could serve as a suitable bearing medium.

The demand for forest fuels is increasing in Lithuania. One biofuel source could be grey alder stands, which are currently underused. This study examines the economic feasibility of producing chips from grey alder stands. The research was performed on three grey alder stands. Three chip production technologies were analysed: chips from logging residues, stemwood chips and whole-tree chips. Work time expenditures and costs were assessed for each mode of chip production. When raw material for chips are sold at the roadside, their production from logging residues is usually not profitable. Profitability of whole-tree raw material for chips depends on forwarding distance. Production of raw material for chips from stemwood is profitable. When chips are sold at the heating plant, production is profitable if the chips are made from stemwood and whole trees. Production of chips from logging residues can be profitable if forwarding distances are short. If it is desired to promote the use of grey alder stands for fuel, the problem of the competing profitability of this raw material for chip production should be solved by instituting subsidies or increasing its price.

Small-scale private forestry is widespread in many countries and occupies 40.3% of the total forest area in Lithuania. The pursuit of sustainability has become one of the main goals of forest policy. In order for small-scale private forestry to be based upon sustainability principles, its sustainability must first be assessed and analyzed. This study assesses the sustainability of 385 small forest holdings of Lithuania using established forest sustainability assessment methods and performs an analysis of the factors influencing the sustainability of small forest holdings using correlation analysis. The Lithuanian small-scale forest holdings were categorized in terms of their level of sustainability as being very high and high (assessed on a five-point scale as 3.5–5 points)—13.6%, middle (2.5–3.5 points)—28.8%, or low and very low (1.0–2.5 points)—57.6%, with the corresponding proportion of holdings indicated as a percentage. A total of 40 independent variables were hypothesized, and their correlation with the sustainability assessments of the holdings was verified. The correlation analysis found mostly weak but reliable (p < 0.05) relationships with 23 independent variables: very weak—12 variables, weak—7 variables, middle—2 variables, and strong—2 variables. Moderate and strong correlations were found for the following variables: the owner’s view of the forest’s economic importance (correlation coefficient: 0.862), income per hectare (0.840), the importance of forestry in the common activity of the owners (0.525), the percentage of mature stands (0.476), the diversity of activities in forest holdings (0.361), and how the wood is used (0.328).

Effective formation and implementation of forest policy can only be achieved with orientation to the most important goal—increasing society’s welfare. The global problem is, at present, that the impact of forests on society welfare indexes have not been identified. The aim of the study is to design an assessment model and assess the impact of Lithuanian forests on the society welfare index. The impact of forests was determined by multiplying the country’s welfare of society index by the forest contribution coefficient. In this study, to assess the index of the welfare of Lithuanian society, a five-dimensional model with 16 indicators was applied. The study is based on the Eurostat database and on Lithuanian forestry statistics. The Lithuanian welfare of society index calculated according to the model was 51.4% and the contribution of forests in this index was 3.9%. It represented 7.6% of the index of the welfare of society. Forests have the greatest impact in the environmental dimension, according to the assessment results.

This article focuses on analyzing the priorities and motives of private forest owners in the voluntary protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. The Delphi sociological method was applied to determine these priorities and motives in Lithuania. Twenty-nine experts answered questions about the attitudes of Lithuanian private forest owners towards voluntary private forest protection models and types of protection contracts, possible environmental protection instruments, the need for compensation for losses due to forest management restrictions in protected areas, the share of protected forests, factors determining the intention to protect forests, motives for voluntary forest protection, the "crowd-out” effect, sources of compensation for losses, the effectiveness of biodiversity and ecosystem protection mechanisms in forests applied in Lithuania and factors that reduce them. According to the experts, Lithuanian private forest owners have chosen fixed-term and permanent protection contracts with compensation. The main motive for forest protection is monetary compensation for losses due to restrictions on forest activities.