Tove Enggrob Boon

An Empirically Based Typology of Private Forest Owners in Denmark: Improving Communication Between Authorities and Owners

For policy instruments to be effective, they should motivate forest owners to adjust behaviour in agreement with forest policy objectives. It may therefore be beneficial to know the motivations of private forest owners. Often, forest owners are assumed to constitute an entity, although statistics and structural changes indicate increasing heterogeneity. Instead, forest owners can be divided into types, i.e. groups that include forest owners with similar attitudes, and where attitudes of each group differ from those of other groups. Based on a survey among private forest owners in Denmark, three types of owners were identified: (1) the classic forest owner to whom the forest has economic importance; (2) the hobby owner who enjoys work and recreation in the forest; and (3) the indifferent farmer to whom the different values provided by the forest are equally (un)important. Implications of this typology for forest policy formulation and implementation are discussed.

The non-timber forest policy process in Nepal: actors, objectives and power

Abstract The importance of commercial non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the livelihood strategies of rural collectors in Nepal is increasingly recognised. This paper provides suggestions for improving rural collectors’ possibilities for income generation. The formation and implementation of NTFP policies in Nepal is examined by investigating the area of interactions between policy formation, choice and implementation of forest policy tools within the ‘new political economy’ approach, and suggestions are subsequently evaluated within the found practical political context. The study is based on approximately 400 interviews carried out with some 1000 stakeholders in the period 1992–1998. Following a qualitative research strategy hypotheses are formulated on the basis of patterns emerging from the data collected. The main stakeholders in NTFP collection and trade are identified to be: rural collectors and traders; local level politicians; lower level government staff; high level politicians; conservation-oriented institutions; and development oriented institutions. The objectives and influence of these stakeholders on the non-timber sector are identified and proposals for change are discussed in the light of distribution of objectives and power. It is hypothesised that NTFP policy formation, implementation and the field reality are weakly connected: implemented policy tools do not correspond to the aims of formulated policies, and field reality is not regulated in the envisioned direction by policy tools. This situation is explained by the fact that stakeholders at different levels of the policy hierarchy can influence their own level only. It is further hypothesised that a number of changes in forest legislation and regulations can have immediate and powerful effects on rural livelihoods of collectors. Taking into account the present political situation such changes may not be introduced from within the decision making process and, therefore, the view is put forward that pressure from outside the forestry sector is needed to bring about significant changes in favour of rural collectors.

Describing management attitudes to guide forest policy implementation

Forest policy in Denmark aims to increase the environmental values of forests. For policy implementation it is essential to know how to motivate private owners. Based on a survey among private forest owners in Denmark, four types of owners have been identified, clustered according to their forest management attitudes and practices: (1) the production-oriented owner, (2) the classic forest owner, (3) the environmental/recreational owner, and (4) the indifferent forest owner. Owners in Clusters 1 and 2 are mainly motivated by financial and wood production aspects, whereas owners in Cluster 3 are to a greater extent motivated by environmental and recreational aspects. Cluster 4 is the least motivated cluster. For effective policy intervention, the clusters should be addressed by different means. Owners in Clusters 1 and 2 should be met on their agricultural-production logic, Cluster 3 on their interest to improve environmental values, whereas owners in Cluster 4 might mainly be interested in passive nature management solutions.

Constraints and Options in Local Forest Management in Cambodia: Is Decentralization a Solution?

In Cambodia there is an urgent need to ensure the livelihood of the forest-dependent rural poor while at the same time sustaining valuable forest resources. As past centralized forest management regimes have failed, international scholars and development practitioners increasingly recommend the decentralization of power in favor of granting authority over forest management to commune councils. Drawing on experience from community forestry and commune councils, this article argues that in Cambodia democratic decentralization, understood as a transfer of significant domains of discretionary power and authority to downwards accountable local institutions, is unlikely to work unless: (a) the communities get access to substantial benefits from the forests, and (b) they are enabled to deal with strong external and internal actors and conflicting interests. This requires support from the state, but the national government in Cambodia is weak and represents a major constraint in itself. Hence, this article calls for increased focus on the role of the state in theory about decentralized forest management.