Rodolphe Schlaepfer

A framework to implement Stakeholder participation in environmental projects

Participation has emerged as an appropriate approach for enhancing natural resources management. However, despite long experimentation with participation, there are still possibilities for improvement in designing a process of stakeholder involvement by addressing stakeholder heterogeneity and the complexity of decision-making processes. This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of methods. It proposes a comprehensive framework to implement stakeholder participation in environmental projects, from stakeholder identification to evaluation. For each process within this framework, techniques are reviewed and practical tools proposed. The aim of this paper is to establish methods to determine who should participate, when and how. The application of this framework to one river restoration case study in Switzerland will illustrate its strengths and weaknesses.

Understanding forest certification using the Advocacy Coalition Framework

Abstract Forest certification is an indirect economic incentive for improved forest management. Originating in the early 1990s, and supported by environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), forest certification has become one of the more controversial topics in forest policy discussions, and the real benefits it provides to forest owners and managers have been questioned. Under these circumstances, the rapid spread of certification has been subject to divergent interpretations. In this article, the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), an actor-based analytical framework developed by Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith in the US, is used to analyse the development of forest certification systems in Canada, Indonesia and Sweden. The ACF provides a convincing framework for this analysis, particularly when it is complemented with elements from the policy network approach and the concept of epistemic communities. Support is provided for several of the key hypotheses of the ACF, and a number of proposals for modifications to the ACF are made. Based on the example of forest certification, it is argued that the ACF can be a useful tool for understanding policy processes with multiple actors and involving policy learning.

Management of forested landscapes in mountain areas: an ecosystem-based approach

Abstract The goal of this paper is to show how an ecosystem-based approach can contribute simultaneously to a multipurpose use of forest resources in mountain areas, and to the maintenance of the quality of the forests and forested landscapes producing the resources. An ecosystem-based approach in managing forest resources in mountain areas is considered as essential. Its principles, methods and instruments are introduced and illustrated with examples. The accent is put on the importance of the landscape (ecocomplex) level, the integration of ecological, economic and social considerations, and the use of multicriteria decision aid techniques.

Hare abundance as an indicator for urbanisation and intensification of agriculture in Western Europe

Significant land-use changes have occurred in Western European rural regions since the 1950s, leading to standardisation of the landscape, and to the decline of the richness in terms of habitat for fauna and flora. This paper reports on a study of the dynamics of a typical landscape for these regions (North-Western part of Switzerland) at five periods of time (the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s) and its relation with the decrease of the population of the brown hare (Lepus europaeus). The socio-economical, ecological, climatic and geomorphologic states of 936 communes were described with 40 variables, obtained mostly from communal statistics, using a Geographical Information System (MapInfo). An Index of the Abundance of Hares (IAH) was calculated on 125 of these communes. Statistical analyses and PEGASE (a multivariate hierarchical divisive analysis method) were performed, using IAH as target variable, to identify the key-variables of the landscape for the hare. On basis of these key-variables, two scenarios for the future were constructed, leading both to negative consequences for the hare. Our procedure for analysing the landscape dynamics in relation to the population of brown hare proves to be original and useful. The result is a base of discussion for building a platform for the monitoring of the landscape and its capacity to be a suitable habitat for an animal. The brown hare was shown to be an appropriate part of a set of indicators to measure the intensification of the agriculture, the extension of urbanisation and the development of the road and rail networks

Ecological and Landscape Considerations in Forest Management: The End of Forestry?

This paper presents the evolution of ecological considerations in forestry and its consequences for future forest management practices. Forest management has a long history, but there has been a remarkable increase in interest in the subject over the last 10 years. Much of this interest has come from outside the forestry profession as the roles of forests in issues such as carbon cycling, climate change and the conservation of biodiversity becomes increasingly recognised. Recent emphasis has been on sustainable forest management and ecosystem-based management. Forests should be considered as part of a broader landscape and forest managers need to adjust their horizons to this scale. Forest certification is an important tool to implement ecosystem-based management. The introduction of ecosystem-based management is associated with a number of impacts, and many forestry graduates are ill-equipped to deal with the new types of demands placed on forest managers. Foresters, if they can adapt to the increasing importance of ecosystem-based considerations, will be able to use their undoubted skills at a landscape level beyond the confines of the forests. If they cannot, they will continue to find their role, even within forests, being dramatically reduced.