Niskanen, A., Väyrynen, J. (eds.). 1999. Regional Forest Programmes:
A Participatory Approach to Support Forest Based Regional Development.
EFI Proceedings No. 32. 240 p. (In English
Abstract: The publication consists of 17 papers presented
in the Nordic Research Course on Regional Forest Strategies held
in Mekrijärvi, Finland 17-24 June 1999 and the European Summer
School on Regional Forest Strategies in Different Forest Cultures
of Europe held in Marybank, Scotland 15-22 August 1999. One of
the main conclusions is that the importance of regional programmes
is growing because EU-level policies are often increasingly aimed
to work directly with regions. Without the regional programmes
for forestry, it remains difficult to justify the political importance
of forest sector e.g. in regional development funding that is
negotiated between European Commission and the representatives
of local level authorities. In forestry, this supports the further
development of regional forest strategies as programmes for regional
development. The other finding is the increasing trend of peoples'
participation in decision making in Europe. Therefore, also forest
strategy formulation should be encouraged to be based on participation
processes where interests of various stakeholders are widely considered.
However, the participation approach e.g. in forest strategy formulation
should be separated from consultation processes where the principle
aim is to have more information for traditional decision making
bodies rather than include people in decision making. The need
for participatory approach in forest strategy formulation calls
increased multidisciplinary approach in forest policy formulation.
Under the described trends, it is not acceptable to have solely
foresters who prepare forest strategies for foresters. In the
formulation of regional forest strategies or programmes, the process,
the negotiations and the implementation should be integrally planned.
Without well functioning negotiation processes and participatory
approaches, the weight of a strategy or programme will remain
low, and will have no changes for successful implementation. In
an opposite case, if various stakeholders and common people participate
the negotiations and decision-making processes, the strategy is
much easier to implement.
Keywords: Sustainable forest management, Forest policy,
Regional development, Regional forest programme, Planning, Participation.
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