Identifying, managing and monitoring conflicts between forest biodiversity conservation and other human interests in Europe

In this paper, circumstances where various human activities and interests clash with the conservation of forest biodiversity are examined, with particular focus on the drivers behind the conflicts. After identifying past and current human-related threats potentially leading to conflicts in forests, the paper will focus on conflict management and monitoring, with an emphasis on inclusionary stakeholder networks and a range of approaches towards sustainable land use. Three dimensions of conflicts are examined: substance (‘how things are’), procedure (‘how things are done’), and relationships (‘how people behave’). These relations will relate to three conflict management approaches: (1) technical, which may contribute to reduce or solve the conflict acting on the ‘substance’ dimension, (2) political, which may influence the ‘procedure’ dimension of the conflict establishing principles or rules, and (3) cultural, which may affect the ‘relationship’ dimension of the conflict. Finally, a general model of adaptive conflict management emphasising communication among the parties and a participatory approach that involves monitoring of the conflict resolution outcomes is proposed. The recognition that strong perceptions among stakeholders have the potential to aggravate conflicts is central to the concept of a inclusionary conflict management framework, improved communication between all stakeholders, and better awareness of the context of the conflicts is emphasised.     

Stakeholder perceptions,management and impacts of forestry conflicts in southern Sweden

ABSTRACT

Forests are under increasing pressure with increasing risk of conflicts between stakeholder groups with different interests in sustainable forest management (SFM). This study investigated the different dimensions of conflict as perceived by private forest owners and other stakeholders, and the likely impact of these pressures on SFM in a southern Swedish context. Data were collected through a mixed methods approach using qualitative in-depth individual semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and a quantitative survey (n?=?6–161), with questions on present and past conflicts, actors, drivers, acting, management and solutions. Stakeholders felt that in the past the conflicts were more about technical dimensions of forestry practice, and today more about the political and cultural dimensions of forestry issues. The most frequently mentioned reason for forest conflict was forest protection, especially woodland key habitats. In all conflicts, forest owners emphasised the importance of knowledge, responsibility and emotions. Other stakeholders did too, but with emotions less emphasised. In managing conflict, meetings, adaptation and education were stressed by stakeholders. Dialogue arenas on different levels are needed for all stakeholders. Governing bodies also need to realise the implication different approaches and strategies have on forest owners management.     

Do forest policy actors learn through forward-thinking? Conflict and cooperation relating to the past,present and futures of sustainable forest management in Germany

Collaborative participatory policy approaches based on foresight methodology have recently been proposed as promising governance tools to achieve sustainability in general, and address and manage challenges of integrating competing demands on forest land use (e.g., timber production, nature protection, recreation) in particular. Their main argument is that participatory processes will bring policy actors together. Based on long- and short-term future-oriented thinking and actions, they will overcome their previous value-laden and interest-based conflicts through informed communication, deliberation, policy learning and mutual cooperation. But do policy actors learn when they are thinking, debating and shaping the ‘forest futures’ they want to achieve or avoid? To what extent are current beliefs, values, worldviews, and conflict structures projected onto the future? What are their impacts on policy learning today?This paper addresses these research questions from a knowledge-based perspective of relevant policy learning theories. We trace changes and stability in beliefs, values (perception) and behavior (cooperation/conflict) among the involved policy actors. We assess to what extent future-oriented thinking and discussions contribute to, or inhibit, policy learning today.Empirically, the paper is informed by three case studies of regional ‘forest futures’ processes in Germany. They include forest landscapes in Upper Palatinate and South of Munich in Bavaria, and the Black Forest National Park in Baden-Württemberg. They represent different cases in terms of levels of stakeholder conflicts, integrative/segregative forest land use approaches, and the rural/urban divide. The paper is based on a qualitative analysis of interviews and documents about past and future forest land use, and observation of participatory scenario-building and back-casting workshops during 2011–2014.In our analysis, we found that forest policy actors adhered to their pre-existing beliefs and remained divided in terms of present and future aspects of sustainable forest management. That is, we observed no substantial or only strategic policy learning among the involved policy actors. We explain these findings in terms of competing actors' belief systems and worldviews that lead to competing understandings and expectations of ‘forest futures’. We discuss our research against the theoretical propositions and in view of the state-of-the art. We draw conclusions relevant for scholars and policymakers interested in collaborative policy learning processes, and suggest possible topics for further research.     

The role of transfrontier conservation areas and their institutional framework in natural resource-based conflict management: A review

Contests over scarce and shared natural resources continue to headline conflicts across the world’s geographic regions. The transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) concept gained widespread acceptance as one of the promising conflict management strategies. However, following the establishment of TFCAs by various countries, questions about their contribution to conflict management and resolution are emerging. Motivated by the institutional work concept, the contribution of TFCAs and their institutional framework for peace and cooperation efforts was assessed. Using field experience and the archival method, 131 journal articles, books and reports on natural resources and conflict management were reviewed between 2010 and 2016. The review process focused mainly, but not limited to TFCAs and their institutional frameworks in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Findings indicate that TFCAs and their institutional frameworks are relevant to peace and cooperation efforts in SADC provided the stakeholders at various levels are committed to the actions agreed upon. However, making conclusive statements without further comprehensive studies on the contribution of other peace-promoting interventions within the SADC region besides TFCAs may be ill conceived. Governments and other key stakeholders are recommended to further harmonize conservation legislation, institutions and management practices to promote cooperation at the local and regional level.     

国内外自然保护地人兽冲突管控现状比较

人兽冲突是在有限的自然资源状况下人类社会发展所遇到的全球性问题,会同时对人类和野生动物造成不利影响。在当前趋势下,这种矛盾冲突正在激化。文中通过检索相关文献对国内外人兽冲突管控现状进行对比分析。结果表明,国内外有越来越多的学者关注人兽冲突问题;尽管人兽冲突的出现是多种因素综合作用的结果,但国内外的人兽冲突形式存在共性。在应对我国的人兽冲突问题时,应考虑将多学科的知识综合应用于制定解决方案;同时可借鉴国外的一些做法,由各利益相关方共同治理、共同出资,并加强与国际组织的交流合作。     

森林经营方案编制中的冲突与协调

阐述了在编制森林经营方案过程中遇到的冲突问题,通过分析冲突的起因和表现,指出我国森林经营方案编制中没有或较少有公众参与,各相关利益者之间缺少交流与沟通。通过对冲突中相关利益者的分析,提出了一套基于森林经营方案编制的公众参与程序,指出公众参与森林经营方案编制可协调冲突并能提高经营方案的质量和实践性。     

Stakeholders' perceptions of consultations as tools for co-management — A case study of the forestry and reindeer herding sectors in northern Sweden

The forestry and reindeer herding sectors utilize the same land in northern Sweden, and adversely affect each other's productivity. The common pool resource character of this situation has made it difficult to find ways to resolve conflicts that could threaten the two sectors' continued co-existence. A consultation procedure that was introduced to reduce conflicts does not appear to be effective, since conflicts between the two actors still occur. One reason for this failure might be found in the power distribution between forestry and reindeer herding. Earlier research has shown that a co-management system in which the allocation of power between the stakeholders is uneven is difficult to maintain in the long term. However, it is unclear just how uneven the power distribution is between the two actors in this case, and the consequences the disparity might have for the viability and stability of the management system. Focusing on the power relations within the consultation procedures, this paper explores the potential of the present institutional system to take the different interests of the stakeholders into account and to use the consultation procedures as tools for co-managing the forest resources in northern Sweden.     

The production and use of knowledge in regulatory impact assessment – An empirical analysis

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) – understood as the formalised analytical activities initiated or carried out by central government administrations when designing specific policy instruments – is currently receiving high levels of political attention. It is seen as a tool to improve regulatory quality and to promote cross-cutting objectives such as sustainable development. Often conceived as an economic analysis of costs and benefits, RIA tends to be depicted as a ‘neutral’ assessment process that informs decision-makers about ‘facts’. This does not explain, of course, why RIA often becomes an arena for political conflict involving both government departments and stakeholders. Based on empirical research on the design and practical application of RIA across the European Union, this paper explores the relationship between RIA, policy-making and politics. The aim is to shed light on what knowledge is produced, how it is used by different actors and what role it plays in decision-making. Based on this analysis, we explore to what extent and under what conditions RIA can serve as a tool for more evidence-based and sustainability oriented policy-making processes.     

Benefits of forests in Cameroon. Global structure,issues involving access and decision-making hiccoughs

Among many other stakes, the economic stake derived from the exploitation of tropical forest resources is a burning issue. This is evidenced by insecurity in intergenerational access to forest resources and financial benefits relating to the latter, on the one hand, and by a deep iniquity at the intra-generational level, on the other hand. The following paper highlights, as a moral, social and policy dilemma, how stakeholders and generations, ‘self-interested’, mark out access to forest resources and to financial benefits relating to the latter. Through intensive participatory research, quantitative data collection, participant observation, future scenarios and some International Forestry Research's social science methods and interactive games (SSM & IG) based on the evaluation of the sustainability of forest management systems, field research conducted in the forest zone of Cameroon on access to forest resources has generated two central results. Firstly, future generations will be confronted—in a dramatic way—to quantitative and qualitative scarcity of forest resources, following their over exploitation by present generations. Secondly, as concerns the intra-generational access benefits generated by commercial exploitation of forests and the assessment of the circulation of forestry fees, there is much inequity, in as much as those benefits are more profitable to a ‘forestry elite’—‘a self-interested block’—than to local communities, who strongly claim to have historical rights over these forests. As a contribution of social science to public knowledge and to policy development, this article is nourishing ‘rational choice’ and ‘rational egoism’ theory and is targeting decision-making processes in the ever first attempt of forest management decentralization and ‘legal’ benefits sharing in Central Africa (the second largest forest of the World). The article recommends the shortening of the distance between decision-making and beneficiaries, downwardly accountability, ‘bottom-up’ mechanisms of public dialogue in forest management and a collaborative infrastructure in the circulation and the distribution of forest benefits.     

Real versus perceived conflicts between restoration of ponderosa pine forests and conservation of the Mexican spotted owl

Progress in implementing ecosystem approaches to conservation and restoration is slowed by legitimate concerns about the effects of such approaches on individual imperiled species. The perceived conflict between the restoration of fire-excluded forests and concomitant reduction of dense fuels and high-severity wildfire, versus the recovery of endangered species, has led to a policy ambiguity that has slowed on-the-ground action at a time when active management is urgently needed, both for ecosystem restoration and species conservation. The Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) in the southwestern U.S.A. is emblematic of this perceived conflict, with numerous appeals and lawsuits focused on the species and vast acres of forest managed with habitat quality for this species in mind. We use spatial analysis across large landscapes in Arizona to examine potential conflicts between the desire to reduce the likelihood of uncharacteristically severe wildfire and restore native fire regimes, and the concurrent desire and legal mandate to manage forests for the recovery of the owl. Our spatially explicit analysis indicates that real conflicts between these management objectives exist, but that locations where conflicts might inhibit active forest management represent less than 1/3 of the 811,000 ha study region. Furthermore, within the areas where conflicts might be expected, the majority of the forest could be managed in ways that would reduce fire hazard without eliminating owl habitat. Finally, management treatments that emphasize ecosystem restoration might improve the suitability of large areas of forest habitat in the southwest that is currently unsuitable for owls. These results demonstrate that even where policy conflicts exist, their magnitude has been overstated. Active restoration of dry forests from which fire has been excluded is compatible in many areas with conservation and recovery of the owl. Identifying and prioritizing areas to meet the dual goals of ecosystem restoration and imperiled species conservation require a broad spatial approach that is analytically feasible but currently underutilized. Working together, conservation biologists, restoration ecologists, and forest managers can employ landscape-level spatial analysis to identify appropriate areas for management attention, identify suitable management practices, and explore the predicted consequences of alternative management scenarios on forests, fire ecology, and the fate of sensitive species of conservation concern.     

Propensity of farmers to conserve forest within REDD + projects in areas affected by armed-conflict

The implementation of carbon-storage efforts in countries experiencing armed conflicts or confronting illegal activities (such as illicit crop cultivation) will permit additional tropical forests to be protected for climate change mitigation. Yet, despite these potential gains, the appropriate design and application of forest conservation and climate change mitigation approaches such as the mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD +) in such contexts remain little studied. Unanswered questions relate to the propensity of farmers in conflict affected areas to conserve forests for climate change mitigation. Such questions include, for what reasons and under what circumstances would such farmer participate in climate change mitigation activities? In this paper we address these questions by developing an econometric Logit model to understand factors influencing the propensity to conserve forest of farmers from 14 villages in Colombia. These villages are located in a region recognized as a stronghold of guerrilla insurgencies and as the center for illegal crop cultivation. The region was selected as it is also the proposed target area for piloting Colombian government REDD + activities. A household survey (n = 90) showed that four explanatory variables are significantly related to the ‘propensity to conserve forest’. ‘Harvest of non-timber forest products’ (specifically bush meat) positively influences a farmer's propensity to conserve forest. In contrast, higher ‘percentage of forest area’, ‘deforestation for (the production of) subsistence crops’ and ‘harvest of wood product’, each have a negative influence. Overall, results show an already high propensity to conserve forest among farmers (70% of respondents) and indicate their growing propensity toward the conservation of primary forest and management of degraded lands and secondary forest. These results might be attributable to efforts undertaken to reduce the causes of armed-conflicts and ecosystem deterioration, such as enhancement of land tenure security and farmer associations' rules to reduce deforestation. They might also be linked to communities' positive attitudes toward water resources conservation. We conclude that most farmers will not oppose forest conservation as long as it is compatible with their respective livelihood priorities.     

Theory in (forest) history — A success story?

The following attempt at a short essay is based on observations predominantly made in Germany and personal experiences respectively. Its aim is to portray how the author reached ‘the theory’ and how history in general as well as the historiography of forestry in particular approaches theory and its underlying assumptions. As a result, the diverse historical sub-disciplines are endeavoring with varying ‘success’ to employ and develop theoretical approaches (theory turn). However, as there is no consensus on an operational definition of theory to the present day, this dialog focuses on epistemological reflections rather than theoretical models.     

灵长类冲突行为研究进展

冲突行为在灵长类中普遍存在,通过对灵长类动物冲突和冲突后行为的研究,可以了解灵长类的冲突管理和解决冲突的策略,并由此加深理解人类的冲突与和解行为的演化历史和渊源.通过观察并分析动物行为,发现攻击原因有:食物、婴儿和无特殊事件,社会因素也是引起冲突的原因之一.人们早期对冲突后行为的研究主要集中于对和解行为的研究.随着研究的深入,对转向攻击、安慰及替代和解等其他冲突后行为也有涉猎.对人类冲突行为的研究不及非人灵长类冲突行为的研究深入,但这个状况正在改变.对人类冲突行为的研究发现与对非人灵长类的研究发现有惊人的相似之处.     

Nature vs. nurture: managing relationships between forests,agroforestry and wild biodiversity

Many agroforestry systems are found in places that otherwise would be appropriate for natural forests, and often have replaced them. Humans have had a profound influence on forests virtually everywhere they both are found. Thus ‘natural’ defined as ‘without human influence’ is a hypothetical construct, though one that has assumed mythological value among many conservationists. Biodiversity is a forest value that does not carry a market price. It is the foundation, however, upon which productive systems depend. The relationship between agroforestry and the wild biodiversity contained in more natural forests is a complicated one, depending on the composition of the agroforestry system itself and the way it is managed. Complex forest gardens are more supportive of biodiversity than monocrop systems, shade coffee more than sun coffee, and systems using native plants tend to be more biologically diverse. Nonnative plants, especially potentially invasive alien species, threaten biodiversity and need to be avoided. The relationship between forests, agroforestry and wild biodiversity can be made most productive through applying adaptive management approaches that incorporate ongoing research and monitoring in order to feed information back into the management system. Maintaining diversity in approaches to management of agroforestry systems will provide humanity with the widest range of options for adapting to changing conditions. Clear government policy frameworks are needed that support alliances among the many interest groups involved in forest biodiversity.

     

Understanding the timber value chain in community-based forestry in Indonesia: Analysis of sengon in central Java

The commercial opportunities for sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria L. Nielsen) are expanding rapidly in Indonesia, but there remains a lack of supply for the processing industry of the desired volume and quality of timber for processing from this fast-grown tree. This article discusses recent analysis of the value chain of sengon in Indonesia to determine (i) who the stakeholders were and how each added value, and (ii) how the benefits were distributed among stakeholders. Information was collected from a mix of farmers (as tree growers) and other actors involved in the value chain. The research revealed two broad types of value chains for sengon–‘direct’ and ‘traditional’, with the potential increased income for farmers being as high as 35% when they use the direct approach, compared to the traditional approach. As expected, the further ‘downstream’ the position of the stakeholder in the value chain, the greater the monetary value added to the sengon timber and subsequent products. If farmers were to acquire a greater understanding of the market dynamics for sengon, they could better target the sale of their forest products to specific market segments and make forestry a more profitable enterprise. While village traders in the traditional value chain play an important role connecting small-scale tree growers to commercial markets, the sustained viability of their role is uncertain if more farmers adopt the ‘direct’ approach.     

The restoration of research

Research per se is a highly heterogeneous activity with a variety of objectives, actors and stakeholders, and a range of mechanisms to enhance collaboration while minimizing cost and unnecessary duplication. There is an urgent need to disseminate the results of research in forms that can be understood by policy-makers, administrators, the media and the public as well as by resource managers and peer scientists.To be effective, research itself needs to be restored. It must be both proactive and reactive to policy and public issues and use modern techniques of information technology and networking. Current human demands on forests for social, environmental and economic benefits require new, interdisciplinary approaches to research and rapid implementation of relevant results by appropriate stakeholders.In this paper, the extents, rates and causes of deforestation are identified together with the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management that have specific relevance to restoration of site productivity. The changes in forest policies and management objectives over the second half of the 20th century are described and it is recognized that the role of forests as global resources may conflict with national sovereignty.     

International influence on forest governance in Tanzania: Analysing the role of aid experts in the REDD+ process

Forest governance in many African countries is characterised by a blatant gap between policy and implementation. Contrary to studies that explain this discrepancy mainly with deficient budgets and capacity shortfalls, this paper highlights aid as a cause of implementation failure: Analysing the REDD+ process in Tanzania, it reveals how donor experts employ their material and discursive power to convey ‘conservation fads’ to the country's policy domain, and to shape the latter in terms of substance and organisation. At the same time, it shows how local actors from government, civil society and academia utilise their international ‘partners’ for pursuing their own interests.The empirical findings presented in this paper are based on expert interviews and document analysis. Drawing on democracy theory and development studies, the paper points out the implications of aid and related expert advice for young democracies. In the Tanzanian forest sector, a far-reaching effect can be observed: Decision-makers routinely adjust their agenda to donor priorities without necessarily intending to put new policies into practice. While the uptake of ‘conservation fads’ promoted by the aid industry provides them direct and indirect access to resources, it prevents the emergence of responsive politics able to transform forest management on the ground.     

Participation,public policy-making,and legitimacy in the EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement process: The Cameroon case

This paper discusses how participatory policy-making processes such as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) negotiations are and should be organised to foster political legitimacy and support. The VPAs are bilateral agreements between the European Union (EU) and timber producing countries. VPAs constitute a cornerstone in EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, the most important tool for the EU to address illegal logging problems. The EU requires that national VPA negotiations include participation by the relevant stakeholders. Based on primary data, we compare the VPA negotiations in Cameroon (2006–2009) with three different ‘ideal’ models of participatory policy-making: the rationalist, the communicative incremental and the mixed model, which we expect have different implications for legitimacy. We conclude that the Cameroonian process is closest to a rationalist model with elements of the mixed model, and that this has increased legitimacy and support only to a limited extent. For future processes in other countries, we recommend stronger elements of the mixed model, and more careful considerations about stakeholder identification processes; how to adapt policy-process to specific contexts; and how to strengthen communication and information flows. Considerations about these elements could also strengthen the applicability of the ideal models.     

A ‘mixed model’ for the formulation of a multipurpose mountain forest policy.: Theory vs. practice on the example of Kyrgyzstan

The formulation of policies, which can promote multiple use of forests in mountain regions, requires rigorous methods and approaches, based on established theories. A relevant conceptual framework is the ‘mixed model’, which is based on both rationalist and communicative action theories. With such a model, based on the policy cycle theory, the precision of multipurpose forestry objectives and means remains as the main task of the public authority (especially the forest service), but this can only result from discussions with various stakeholders in both public and private sectors, at central and local levels. The model works through a permanent confrontation between owners’ and users’ interests, expressed by representatives involved in policy formulation. Such a negotiation approach is used for analysing the present situation and issues (strong and weak points), for defining and structuring various objectives of the policy, as well as for defining different strategies and measures to be implemented to achieve those objectives. Further discussions of different positions among the participants finally lead to negotiated common solutions for future policy. Such a method is particularly adapted to public decision-making in mountain forests, where demands from various stakeholders are numerous and problems urgently need to be solved. The mixed model necessarily brings compromises between competitive or complementary social needs and interests, and automatically promotes multifunctional forestry management schemes and measures. However, that does not mean an easy implementation of such a conceptual frame.     

Capacity building to advance the United Nations sustainable development goals: An overview of tools and approaches related to sustainable land management

The United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide an ambitious and comprehensive framework for addressing the development needs on a global, regional, and national scale. In order for the SDG targets to be obtainable, diverse stakeholders need the technical, institutional, and organizational capacity to implement the wide variety of initiatives covered under these goals. Inspired by a 2016 workshop, this article synthesizes capacity-building themes and strategies for the following approaches to sustainable development, specifically related to forestry, restoration, agriculture, and other forms of land management. Using three case studies from the authors’ experience, we present approaches to building local capacity for sustainable land management (SLM) in the tropics. These projects have taken different steps in order to build technical and leadership capacity as well as develop management or financial skills, and offer insight into various approaches that may be used in order to improve the effectiveness and long-term impact of SLM efforts. By presenting a range of tools and approaches to capacity building, the authors hope that this synthesis can serve as a valuable guide for the development of diverse capacity-building initiatives required to meet the SDGs.