Recent years have seen a growing body of research on urban forest governance. However, there has been limited empirical research on potential factors that contribute to the success of governance ...arrangements, models, and actions. The present study investigates which success factors are considered the most important (and are most prioritised) by urban forestry experts in Canada. It also explores in what ways practitioners would like to see governance success factors evaluated. Starting from a list of 39 success factors identified through a comprehensive review of urban forest governance in North America, a Delphi approach was used to achieve agreement between participating experts. Thirty-two urban forestry experts involved in urban forest governance in four selected Canadian municipalities were asked to participate. Out of these, 19 participated in the study. Experts saw ‘financial resources’ as the most important success factor, followed by ‘data-driven decision making’ and ‘goals, objectives, and targets’. When asked which factors they would prioritize when (re)developing urban forestry programs, the experts agreed on the same factors. Suggestions on methods and indicators assessing success factors included, for example, tracking resources allocation and expenditures and having multiyear funding (for ‘financial resources’) and using an inventory of public and/or private lands, streets, parks, etc., and using i-Tree or other similar analytical GIS and other software (for ‘data-driven decision making’). Finally, among the biggest governance challenges they had faced participants listed four main themes: 1) funding for various stages of planning and implementation; 2) gaining support from others including other departments, the community at large, and non-governmental organizations; 3) the pressures of development in urban and greenfield areas; and 4) establishing laws and policy. Study findings can be used to inform urban forest governance in North America and other parts of the world.
European Union (EU) afforestation programmes applied to marginal agricultural land contribute significantly to strengthening the rural economy and provide multiple products and ecosystem services. ...However, in some cases, they constituted the vehicle for the introduction and spread of invasive alien trees (IAS) in Europe. Invasive alien trees are now among the most conspicuous and damaging species, and they are regarded as a major threat to biodiversity throughout the world, causing economic, ecological and social effects. This survey focuses on a group of forest professionals directly involved in implementing EU afforestation, carried out under the Council Regulation (EEC)
2080/1992
and Council Regulation (EC) 1257/1999. A qualitative survey was conducted to assess the economic and environmental performance of EU afforestation programmes, through the analysis of professional opinions. Furthermore, as the use of invasive alien trees in the plantations has been a subject of great controversy, the survey attempts to explore experts' attitudes and beliefs about the invasive plant species and the potential threats to the environment associated with their spread. The results indicate that the afforestation programmes did no manage to meet the intended goals, especially those related to the environment. They, also, highlight that knowledge about the methods and principles of dealing with plant IAS is limited, therefore better education is needed.
Climate change is recognized as a global threat that negatively impacts biodiversity and forest resources. The use of existing indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM) related to ...biodiversity and climate change, as well as the development of new indicators, will help assess how forest management practices impact biodiversity enhancement and climate change mitigation. A Pan-European set of criteria and indicators has been developed as a policy instrument for monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on the progress in implementing SFM. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Western Balkans in general, the Pan-European set of criteria and indicators is an insufficiently researched topic and there is a lack of scientific research conducted regarding their development and implementation. Through the analysis of the current situation in forestry of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), regarding the compliance and importance of the Pan-European criteria for SFM, this paper aims to explain how the international process of development and application of the Pan-European criteria for SFM can contribute to the improvement of the situation in forestry and the creation of a consistent forest policy in FBiH. The survey among forestry professionals (n=360), from the public forest administration and public forest companies in FBiH, included the sets of questions related to socio-demographic characteristics, assessment of compliance and importance of six criteria of SFM. Research results revealed that forestry professionals are mainly males, on average 41 years old, with 13 years of working experience. The majority of forestry professionals in FBiH are not familiar with Pan-European criteria for SFM, and have a low level of their understanding. On average, forestry professionals indicated that the Pan-European criteria for SFM were of high importance, while compliance with current forest management activities were rated lower on average. The large differences between responses regarding the average rating of compliance and importance of the Pan-European criteria for SFM indicate their low level of implementation in FBiH forest management activities. Accordingly, the results indicate that there is a need to organize educational lifelong learning programs in FBiH forestry sector, involving forestry professionals and other interested parties, to generate knowledge related to the Pan-European criteria for SFM and the concept of SFM in general.
As forestry transitions from hierarchical steering by governments to more multi-actor forms of governance, it has become necessary to understand key challenges to improve forest governance and its ...implications for educating forestry professionals. This paper therefore investigates these challenges and explores capabilities forestry professionals require to overcome them. We employed mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. Data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions and a survey with forestry sector stakeholders. Qualitative data were analysed by clustering related issues into dominant themes and quantitative data by using Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Key challenges identified relate to political culture, particularly the power position of some elites in forest management and a culture of corruption. Non-compliance and poor enforcement of rules were also highlighted. To overcome these challenges, key capabilities forestry professionals require include leadership, authority and autonomy, alongside the capacity to initiate and manage change. We conclude that to improve forest governance in Ghana, beyond having state-of-the-art technical knowledge, professional education should place more emphasis on developing non-technical capabilities. We recommend an integrated approach to professional education that simultaneously develops knowledge, skills, attitudes and mind-sets necessary for producing graduates who can effectively address governance challenges.
•Elite power positions and a culture of corruption constitute the major challenges to responsible forest governance in Ghana.•Capabilities for leadership, authority and autonomy were ranked as the most crucial for forestry professionals in Ghana.•Education for forestry professionals should offer learning experiences on attitudes and mind-sets for responsible governance.
This study investigated perceptions of a group of Chinese and Indian state forestry professionals (SFPs) related to the potential benefits and challenges of developing forest-based bioenergy projects ...(FBPs) in their countries. A total of 110 SFPs participated in the study (55 from each country). The results showed that the SFPs widely agreed upon the potential economic and ecological benefits from developing FBPs in their countries. The economic benefits of job creation and additional income to forest departments were the two most accepted benefits by the SFPs. Two potential challenges of developing FBPs-namely, the lack of suitable technologies and the absence of supportive policies-were considered the most significant by the SFPs. Principal component analysis revealed three key dimensions (ecological, economic and social) of the SFPs' perceptions of FBPs. The findings from the study imply that in order to become viable, the development of FBPs in these two countries must put emphasis on the sustainability aspects by addressing the environmental, economic and societal elements of FBPs. In addition, framing supportive policies, the development of technologies and building infrastructure for FBPs are needed for their successful implementation in China and India.
Forestry professional cooperatives (FPCs) are crucial for improving the efficiency of small-scale forestry, realizing forestry modernization, and promoting the sustainable development of forestry in ...China. However, credit constraints restrict their development. Previous studies have examined the credit rationing issues faced by farmers and enterprises. Few researchers have investigated the financial constraints of FPCs. This paper discusses the current status of credit rationing of FPCs in China, and analyzes the influencing factors of credit rationing. Based on survey data collected in China’s Fujian Province, we found that the credit demand of most FPCs was not met, which was primarily due to the limited amount of loanable funds available. Our empirical results reveal that greater woodland area, product popularity, president's credit record, Forest Rights Guarantee and Storage Agency (FRGSA) are statistically significant factors in reducing the credit rationing of FPCs. We find that, conversely, development planning has the opposite effect. Based on our results, we propose some suggestions, such as ensuring the products have good sales channels, keeping a good credit record of the presidents and adopting forest right storage guarantees, which will help alleviate the credit constraints of FPCs.
Almost 40 years ago, Behan's (1966) article (Behan, R.W. 1966. The myth of the omnipotent forester. J. For. 64:398-407) stressed that the role of professional foresters in the United States was not ...to tell the public how to manage their forests, but to manage according to society's goals. This article considers whether foresters have heeded this advice or neglected it, thereby creating the reality of the impotent forester. Some disturbing trends suggest the latter case may be occurring. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
PDF
