Public participation in sustainable forestry: the case of forest planning in Slovakia (original) (raw)
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The formulation of the National Forest Programme in the Czech Republic: A qualitative survey
Forest Policy and Economics, 2017
National Forest Programme (NFP) is a comprehensive social and political framework to achieve an effective sustainable forest management developing a spirit of cooperation among national and sub-national social actors. In this study, the participatory process adopted in the formulation of the second NFP in Czech Republic (NFPII) was analysed considering four aspects: (1) structure of the participatory process; (2) level of participation and social actors involved; (3) role of facilitator; (4) skills and knowledge of participants. The data were collected through in-depth interviews to a sample of stakeholders (44% of total stakeholders involved in the decision-making process). The results of this study show that the participatory process for Czech NFPII was designed considering representativeness, early involvement, independency, influence, transparency, and resource accessibility criterion. The participatory process was structured in two stages: in the first stage the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of the Environment identified 17 experts to involve in the definition of a first draft of NFPII; in the second stage the two Ministries identified and involved 18 organized groups of stakeholders in order to discuss the key issues previously identified by experts. The main weakness of participatory process in the formulation of NFPII in Czech Republic is the low level of participation of citizens and the different level of skills and knowledge among participants.
Forest planning and public participation: a possible methodological approach
Iforest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, 2012
Today public participation is considered to be an important element of forest planning. This paper illustrates a methodological proposal for integrating public participation in forest planning at a landscape scale. In order to present the conceptual context in which the proposal was elaborated and to make clear the reasons behind the current move towards public participation, I make an analysis of the significance, role and characteristics of participation in the management of natural resources based on experiences of the last decades as documented in international literature.
International Forestry Review, 2016
National Forest Programmes represent a wide range of approaches to the process of planning, programming and implementing forest activities in a country. National Forest Programmes are regulated by international rules that highlight the importance of public participation aimed at developing cooperation among stakeholders and at improving the sustainability of forest management. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered by email to 30 national experts involved in the COST Action FP1207. The participatory process was analysed through some key elements: level of participation, structure, strengths and weaknesses of the participatory process. The results show that the most common level of participation is cooperation in all phases of the participatory process and that, overall, the strengths (e.g. review of problems and policies, cross sector approach) outweigh the weaknesses (e.g. time and efforts consuming, lack of trust). The results of the questionnaire bring out some key elements which are useful to analyse the decision making process.
Literature does not agree on whether international forest-related cooperation meets the features of regime per se, either the terms regime complex, non-regime yet, non-regime or wider concept of forest governance are more suitable. On the contrary, what the literature agrees on is fragmented, non-legally binding, and vague regulation nature of international forest policy. At the international level, forest policy suffers from difficulties in securing agreement on one side, and a lack of implementation on the other. Domestic policies play a crucial role in how global rules, norms, definitions and ideas are translated "on the ground". Mainly domestic actors in the field of forestry, their will, interests and formulations are decisive for the articulation of international regulation. Studies showing empirically how international forest political processes are perceived in the domestic political conditions, are however rare. We aim to fill this research gap, by examining the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) via policy documents analysis supplemented by research on the Slovak forestry stakeholders´ perceptions, which will be conducted later. We concentrate on the UNFF as the global scale initiative, focusing explicitly on forests, while meeting the features of organized political process. The paper aims to apply Policy Arrangements Approach (PAA) as a theoretical foundation for research of the UNFF. First, the PAA is theoretically grounded. Second, framework for the UNFF analysis is set up. Finally, the UNFF is described through PAA dimensions, based on literature review and documents analysis on the process´ basic features.
Forest Policy and Economics, 2006
Since the UNCED in 1992, National Forest Programmes (NFP) have been widely acknowledged as a means to implement internationally agreed upon sustainability goals for forest management. However, national forest programmes are prepared and implemented in national political, social and ecological contexts, which vary significantly between countries. Finland has a long tradition of bforest programmingQ, starting from the 1950s, which has contributed to the institutions and culture of preparing such programmes. These programmes have traditionally been prepared in governmentally facilitated committees and working groups in close collaboration with interest groups and representatives of research and administration. In this paper, we develop goals for participation in a policy decision-making process. These goals, based on sustainable development definitions and policies, include: (1) generating new relevant information, (2) incorporating all relevant interests, and (3) contributing to reaching public agreement. Demands for increasing public awareness, inclusion of different views as well as respect for procedural citizen rights were obvious expectations also behind Finland's National Forest Programme 2010 that was made in 1999. The new forms of participation applied in the already well-developed interest-group-integrating policy preparation system provided an opportunity to take the participation goals more seriously. According to our analysis, the arguments arising from the new forms of participation were strongly in line with those already previously present in Finnish forest policy discourse, and the new forms of participation functioned merely as legitimating and awareness raising systems.
Perceptions of Forest Owners and the General Public on the Role of Forests in Slovakia
Acta Silvatica et Lignaria Hungarica, 2016
During the past decades, the awareness of environmental issues in forest management is increasing due to changes in environmental education. The perceptions of forests, sustainable management, and ecosystem services were studied through two surveys. The general public and forest owners were the two target groups. The questionnaires had similar questions, though two different methodological approaches were used - the CATI system, for general public opinion survey, and semi-structured questionnaires for forest owners. The second survey contained more detailed questions regarding forest properties. Combined answers from 1503 respondents from the general public and 150 forest owners were evaluated on the following topics: sustainable forestry, major ecosystem services, and perceptions of forests. The majority of the Slovakian public regards ecological values as the most important element, whereas forest owners prefer the economic purposes for the maintenance and enhancement of forests. ...
Journal of Environmental Management, 2013
Nature protection as a policy sector is not isolated and is directly or indirectly influenced by many other sectors (e.g. forestry, water management, rural development, energy, etc.). These policy sectors are neither completely segmented nor unaffected by the decisions taken in other policy sectors. Policy formulation in nature protection is therefore also influenced by different sectors. For that reason it is inevitable to stress the need for inter-sectoral coordination to assure their policy coherence. The aim of this article is to describe the mechanism and modes of cross-sectoral coordination and to analyze the relevant actors and their interaction, using the case of the Natura 2000 formulation process in Slovakia. The European Union (EU) set up an ecological network of special protected areas, known as Natura 2000 to ensure biodiversity by conserving natural habitats and wild fauna and flora in the territory of the Member States. An optimized nature protection must therefore carefully consider existing limits and crossdisciplinary relationships at the EU, national and regional levels.
Implementing participatory approaches in formulating regional forest policy
International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2004
Forest policy-makers increasingly recognize the importance of public participation in planning and policy-making endeavours. In many countries public participation has been institutionalized into national forest policy. Despite the stated policy assurances, implementing participatory approaches has been a challenging task. This paper examines the public involvement in forest policy-making, particularly focusing on the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) programme in Australia. The RFA is regarded as the most ambitious, expensive and comprehensive resource planning exercise ever undertaken in the country. The evidence suggests that various participatory and deliberative approaches have been used under the RFA to allow for a plurality of environmental values, but that the integration of public values into final decision-making has been unsatisfactory. Process design, commitment and inadequate attention paid to conflict resolution can be attributed as reasons for sub-optimal outcomes.