Maria Nijnik

Forestry in the Ukraine: the road ahead?

The economy of the Ukraine is in transition from a communist command-and-control to a capitalist system. In this paper, we describe the current state of its forest resources, the structure of its forestry and wood processing sectors, and the problems facing policy makers. While the forest sector should be, and still has the potential to become, an engine for economic growth, the combination of past exploitation and the slow pace of economic reform are major obstacles to implementing rational forest policies. Given the right economic incentives and appropriate forest policies, it may still be possible for the Ukraine to improve its future timber supply while enjoying environmental benefits from its forests. However, this requires economic and institutional reforms beyond the forest sector.

Governance in Ukrainian forestry: trends, impacts and remedies

In this paper, we address governance by analysing the relevant institutions and investigating their impact on economic and environmental performance in Ukrainian forestry. The research questions are: how does the transition to a market economy affect the forest institutions and what are the trends, impacts and remedies for promoting sustainable forestry? The combination of past exploitation of forest resources with the slow pace of economic and political reform is a major obstacle to implementing sustainable forestry policy decisions. The way towards sustainability goes through changing institutions. The human dimension of institutional change investigated in this paper plays an important role in the process of transition. Given the right forest policies and appropriate economic incentives, it may still be possible for the country to improve its future timber supply whilst enjoying environmental benefits from the forests. The paper draws on the state of affairs in forestry-in-transition, examining failures and new incentives in economic and institutional reform.

Integrating Analytical and Participatory Techniques for Planning the Sustainable Use of Land Resources and Landscapes

Planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes must be a process in which stakeholders and the public work together to establish common guidelines for understanding the options of, and the implications for, future land uses. Key aspects of this process are the establishment of meaningful knowledge bases and tools, and methodologies based on the enhanced involvement of stakeholders in making decisions, and their subsequent implementation. The gradation of power or control in public participation proposed by Arnstein (1969), extending from ‘citizen control’ to ‘manipulation’, provides a conceptual basis for considering the evolution in political thinking about participation in areas such landscape planning. This chapter discusses the integration of analytical and participatory techniques for planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes using two examples, one from South America and the second from Europe. The first example considers land use in the Amazon, and the second, the socio-economic, ecological and visual aspects of land-use changes in a European landscape. Each example involved active participation of stakeholders and the public in the process of decision making. A framework is presented for the Amazonian example, which comprises methodologies and survey instruments for multi-level, integrated assessments of landuse and land-cover change. The framework was developed in collaboration between Indiana University and several Brazilian institutions. It adopts an historical ecological approach (Brondizio 2006) and applies a range of tools from the social, ecological and geographic sciences in fieldwork and laboratory analysis (Moran and Ostrom 2005). The framework and methodologies are being used by scientists in the Amazon Initiative (AI)—Land Degradation Assessment (LDA) thematic network as a tool for responding to land degradation problems occurring at farm to regional Chapter 16 Integrating Analytical and Participatory Techniques for Planning the Sustainable Use of Land Resources and Landscapes

Economics of climate change mitigation forest policy scenarios for Ukraine

Abstract This article reveals the contribution of woodland expansion in Ukraine to climate change mitigation policies. The opportunities for climate change mitigation of three policy scenarios: (1) carbon storage in forests, (2) carbon storage and additional wood-for-fuel substitution, and (3) carbon storage with additional sink policy for wood products, are investigated by using a simulation technique, in combination with cost—benefit analysis. The article concludes that the Ukraines forests and their expansion offer a low-cost opportunity for carbon sequestration. Important factors that influence the results are the discount rate and the time horizon considered in the models. The findings provide evidence that the storage climate change mitigation forest policy scenario is most viable for the country, under the assumptions considered in this research.

Analysing the development of small-scale forestry in Central and Eastern Europe.

The current state and future prospects and challenges of small-scale forestry in Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine are examined, and Q-methodology for stakeholder evaluation of forest sustainability and pro-market reforms is applied to an example from Ukraine. Small-scale forestry already provides multiple benefits to the countries in transition. However, these countries differ according to the maturity of the reforms, and the continuing process of transition is being delayed in some of them due to institutional weaknesses, e.g. the authority of government with insufficient involvement of rural communities in decision-making. The necessity of linking international and national sustainable forestry policy to management practices at a local level is especially evident in the countries where bottom-up small-scale adaptive forestry is only starting to catch up with the top-down sustainable forest management principles. The paper highlights the necessity of reconciliation of scientific and conventional knowledge for delivering sustainability objectives to small-scale forestry at a local level. It demonstrates that the social and economic pillars of sustainable forestry reform are of a particular importance for successful performance of small-scale forestry in the countries in transition, as is active involvement of stakeholders and local communities in decision-making and policy implementation.

A study of stakeholders' perspectives on multi-functional forests in Europe.

ABSTRACT This paper explores major opportunities and challenges of the development of multi-functional forestry in Europe by analysing existing attitudes of forestry stakeholders from Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the UK. The research applies a combination of qualitative social science (participatory) approaches and quantitative tools as a means for understanding of a sensitive system of interactions between manifold socio-economic and nature protection activities in European forests that are managed for multiple purposes. Heterogeneity of attitudes of forestry stakeholders, concerning wood production, biodiversity conservation and provision of other ecosystem services, as well as of practical issues and benefits of multi-functional forestry to local communities are analysed by using the Q-methodology. Stakeholders perspectives regarding multi-functional forests and their sustainable management are identified through characterization of attitudinal groups and discursive analysis. Key factors influencing the attitudinal diversity are examined. Research outputs reveal the diversity of existing perspectives, together with stakeholders overall realisation of multifunctional forestry and their general support of sustainable forest management.

Chapter 7: Multi-functional Landscapes in Scotland

This chapter focuses on multi-functional landscapes in Aberdeenshire, which are common to North-East Scotland. It analyses the challenges these landscapes face. Considering Clashindarroch as a case study for Scotland, the chapter also focuses on the importance of sustainable landscape planning and management via the linkage between the use of land for multiple socioeconomic purposes and the need to maintain or enhance environmental quality and the cultural functions of landscapes: the role of institutions, with active public involvement as a driving force, in the process of rural transition towards an integrated sustainable land use. Post-productive developments in rural areas are analysed with the purpose of (a) developing knowledge that relates multiple landscape values to the outcomes of land-use policies and practices; (b) identifying the importance of developing the capability of institutions to contribute to the future of Scottish landscapes; and (c) understanding and promoting public participation in landscape policy and planning. Keywords: biodiversity; landscape management; landscape planning; landscape policy; multi-functional landscapes; rural development; Scotland