The aim of this paper is the selection of suitable tree crop cultivation sites in mountainous less favoured areas, as a forest policy measure under the scope of sustainable development. Ten different ...crop types were proposed as being most suitable in the study area, Pierion Municipal Unit, which is located in the Municipality of Katerini, in the Pieria Prefecture of Greece. In order to determine the most suitable sites for cultivation, data layers that involved the factors of topography, climate, pedology and geology were derived from existing maps and free-of-charge datasets, so that they could be consequently processed with the aid of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The data processing was performed by following criteria, which were established in accordance with the current literature and were translated into Boolean algebra expressions. The latter helped to identify locations where the values of the factors that were employed were most favourable for the cultivation of walnut trees (Juglans sp.), olive trees (Olea sp.), cherry trees (Prunus sp.), apple (Malus sp.), dogwood trees (Cornus sp.), pomegranate trees (Punica sp.), chestnut trees (Castanea sp.) and other crop types. Moreover, the resulting map indicated that the majority of the suitable sites for cultivation were considered favourable for growing walnut trees (24.9%), followed by cherry trees (19.6%) and olive trees (12.1%). Proposing the most suitable cultivations within the study area contributes to forest policy planning and promotes the sustainable development of mountainous less favoured areas, leading to a more rational management of natural resources, a raised awareness of environmental protection, the maintenance of the local population and income enhancement through the production of high quality crops and sustainable yields.
The bioeconomy, as a new phenomenon using renewable resources, significantly affects the forestry sector in many countries. Individual countries have implemented forest policies by financially ...supporting forestry in different ways and for different reasons. The nature and targeting of this support vary from country to country. In a simplified way, it is possible to divide them into two categories: production support and environmental protection support (e.g., to ensure sustainable development). The aim of this article is to analyse the substantive focus of forestry subsidies from national sources in the Czech Republic and, subsequently, compare them with the Czech focus of a forest bioeconomy (FBE). The objective of this analysis is to analyse the financial support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (MoA) between 2018 and 2021. As the Czech Republic’s FBE is not clearly defined, it was analysed and described with the help of the relevant national strategic and political documents. Subsequently, the obtained results were compared with each other to see if the financial subsidies were in line with the Czech FBE. The focus of the subsidies in the years under review is influenced by the situation in Czech forestry, which has faced a severe bark beetle outbreak, causing the financial sources provided to forest owners to increase significantly due to the bark beetle outbreak, which has affected the whole forest sector. The results show that some types of support are provided in accordance with FBE, while others are not. The general conclusions are that the financial support for forestry does not fully represent the Czech FBE.
•Evaluation of Brazilian State Forest Institutions (SFI) in charge of forest concessions and planted forests is proposed.•SFI performance is measured against forestry goals by using the 3 L Model and ...criteria and indicator approach.•The 3 L Model produced a comprehensive overview of the selected Brazilian SFIs in practice.
More than half of Brazilian territory (54%), or approx. 463 million ha, is covered by forests. Public forest ownership dominates with up to 80%, private forests cover cca. 20% and cca. 8% is unclaimed. In public forests the practice of concessions is growing, with the expectation of reducing the problem of Amazonian illegal loggings. Private forests are mainly under plantation management, which generates 5.5% of the country’s industrial gross domestic product. Relevance of both is accordingly high, although not dominant in forest share. A key question for forest policy is how successfully the state regulates both issues in practice. Our paper accordingly focuses on the Brazilian Forest Service and the Ministry of Agriculture, which are state forest institutions in charge of forest concessions and planted forests. We look at their performance against legally based forestry goals and rely on primary (participatory observation, semi-structured personal interviews and questionnaire) and secondary sources (documents) for empirical evidence. The 3 L Model serves as a theoretical basis. It was selected while applying criteria and indicators for evaluation of public institutions´ comprehensive performance with respect to sustainable forest management. The results show that Brazilian forest policy strives toward sustainable forest management, as an overall goal. In more particular, the performance of both examined state forest institutions is more market (than public demand) oriented and moves towards strengthening market competences. At the same time, there are constrains in sustaining forest stands. Due to permanent and strong conflicts related to land use changes in Brazil, the relevance of a mediator, aiming to harmonize all different interests related to forest protection and use, is high, but this role is still not taken, at least not by the evaluated state forest institutions. This represents new task for the forestry practice, while facilitating diverse interests in Brazilian forests could not only be a contribution toward conflict management between environmental, forestry and agribusiness actors but could also grant stronger political role to respective state forest institution(s). For attending this role, the performance evaluation of the whole and rather complex forest-related institutional setting in Brazil could provide relevant science-based policy arguments. This paper shows that the 3 L Model could be applied for such evaluation, as it was possible to adapt it to a non-European country and get a comprehensive overview of Brazilian plantation and concession forestry in practice.
The first EU Forest Strategy was adopted in 1998 to provide general guidelines for an EU forest policy designed to coordinate other EU forest-relevant policies. The implementation of the first ...strategy was done under the auspices of the EU Forest Action Plan, covering the period from 2007 to 2011. The Forest Action Plan was a tool that facilitated voluntary cooperation between EU Member States (no enforcement capabilities), with some coordinating actions being implemented by the European Commission. The reason for returning to the Forest Action Plan in this article is to provide further insight into how it was employed by EU Member States—in contrast to the majority of similar articles on the topic, which are primarily concerned with an examination of EU forest-relevant policies by either analyzing the impact of EU decision-making on forestry at the national level or studying EU Member States’ influence on the EU rather than how EU Member States actually react to EU strategies. This paper addresses this empirical gap and highlights the significant variations of the Europeanization effects on EU Member States when deciding upon and implementing a non-legally binding policy instrument when compared to legally binding policy instruments. Individual Member States exhibit varied strategies when implementing a soft policy instrument, as their respective decision spaces are substantially different, particularly when the costs and benefits of complying are not comparable to those of a legally binding instrument. These results highlight the need for a more nuanced and varied approach to the implementation of soft policy instruments by the EU, with the additional implementation strategies suggested in this article being presented to assist in meeting this need for variation.
Background: International and market forces are key drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, with transnational and market-based solutions in land-use and forest governance often missing ...economic, distributive, and environmental targets.
Methods: This paper tackles both the framing and effectiveness of transnational initiatives affecting forest lands and peoples in the Global South, and the quality of relationships between institutions in the Global North and the Global South. Through more equitable research partnerships, this paper draws lessons from case studies in Indonesia (legality verification system in different forest property regimes), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (lifting of a moratorium on new logging concession), and Brazil (FSC in the Amazon region and the Amazon Fund).
Results: International partnerships have privileged market-based instruments and commodity exchange between Global South and Global North countries, and the benefits of such mechanisms are unevenly distributed. Complementary and alternative policy instruments are discussed for each geography.
Conclusions: Glocalizing land-use and forest governance implies in advancing equitable research partnerships between institutions in the Global South and Global North, and strengthening a community of practice for critical enquiry and engagement in partnerships for sustainable development. Land-use, climate and forest governance mechanisms must redress power dynamics, and partnership models, and commit to improving well-being and sustainable livelihood outcomes.
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An array of research methods has been employed for social-qualitative inquiries. However, the selection of specific research methods has rarely been given adequate attention. We ...mapped out the variety of research methods used in social-qualitative inquiries used in the study of forest policy. Our “problem-method fit” map is based on the usage quantity of a method employed in specific forest policy research themes and contextual analyses. Our map provides a suitable basis for rapid appraisal before deciding appropriate research methods for future studies. While the map provides only an indication of the appropriate methods, it may be supplemented and adapted case-by-case according to the specific needs of the research theme.
•We mapped the commonly used research methods in forest policy analysis•The map is “problem-method fit” for specific policy themes and contextual analyses•It can be used as for rapid appraisal when choosing appropriate research methods
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade agreements between the EU and countries that grow tropical timber aim to complement, alter, or generate new regulatory mechanisms that ensure the ...legality of timber products. These regulatory changes affect pre-existing policies and practices within timber production networks. The Indonesian-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement was signed in 2013, and legality verification is scheduled to become mandatory for all smallholders by the end of 2017. Using grower surveys conducted in the Jepara regency of Central Java (n = 204), we generate information on who Jepara smallholders are, what timber species they are growing, and how programs that provide free and discounted seedlings contribute to STP. We use these data to understand how STP operates and how
Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu
(
SVLK
), the Indonesian method for timber legality verification, will affect STP networks and producers. We find that resource provision and oversight of source documentation increase formalization within STP. Our discussion details four policy-relevant insights for promoting STP amid continued formalization.
The idea and practice of safeguards – usually expressed as sets of environmental and social principles – have become integral components of the ongoing global policy efforts aimed at mitigating ...climate change through the mechanism of Reducing Emissions on Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). Donors, civil societies, business organisations and other different bodies are investing resources on initiatives aimed to propagate different guidelines and principles expected to be adopted, supported and promoted by national governments as safeguards. Yet, there is little research critically examining the different ideas, objectives and understandings embedded in the term and their implications for the purpose for which safeguards are designed for. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discourse on safeguards by presenting REDD+ Safeguard Spectrum, a framework which can be used to unpack the many faces of REDD+ safeguards to guide their application and operationalization at national and local levels. Focusing largely on the social goals espoused under REDD+, the paper characterises social safeguards of REDD+ into four categories—preventive, mitigative promotive and transformative.
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•The idea and practice of safeguards are growing; yet very little attention has been paid to the slippery nature of the term.•REDD+ Safeguards Spectrum (RSS), a framework proposed here, distinguishes safeguards as preventive, mitigative, promotive and transformative.•Each category or combination of them, has differential implications on the livelihoods and non-carbon goals expected to be achieved under REDD+.•The RSS can be used as a descriptive framework as well as an analytical framework to structure discussions on planning, implementation and understanding better the stylised outcomes of social safeguards for REDD+.
This paper examines laws, policies, organizations and other governance elements and arrangements that influence forest conservation and sustainable resource management in the U.S. through a set of 10 ...Indicators associated with Criterion Seven of the Montréal Process Criteria
and Indicators Framework. The applicability and utility of these indicators as a measure of forest governance at the national level is examined and associated quantitative and qualitative data are presented and discussed. In the U.S., a broad range of laws governs public lands, dictating management
processes and practices. Federal and state laws protect wildlife and endangered species on all public and private lands, and foster a range of prescribed and voluntary forest practices to protect water, air, and other public goods and services on private lands. Federal and state laws also
provide for technical and financial assistance, research, education, and planning on private forest lands. Market based mechanisms increasingly are used to advance forest sustainability, as are policies, programs, and partnerships that link related policy networks, purposes, and desired outcomes
across an expanding range of sectors. Nevertheless, challenges in advancing forest sustainability in the U.S. remain, particularly where incentives for sustainable forest management are low and pressures for development and agriculture are high. Furthermore, while such multilateral agreements
help identify common forest goals, develop metrics, and report individual country status, they by no means enforce specific forest practices or ensure good forest governance.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of state ownership in forest governance in Turkey. It seeks to explore how property rights are affected by the complex, dynamic interplay of policies, ...economic influences, and the law. The historical development of state ownership, including its legal aspects, has been investigated in order to better understand the roots of current issues. An institutional approach has been followed. It is hypothesized that as the state exercises its property rights, it has both positive and negative effects on forest governance. This analysis confirms that state ownership may exceed its implementation capacity under the pressure of economic development objectives and that in areas where economic development is a priority, the loss of forests is inevitable. There is a need for a more adaptive approach to making policies related to property rights. The concept of the overriding public interest could be vital in achieving purposeful governance.
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