Identifying key actors, barriers and opportunities to lead a transition towards sustainable forest management
An application to the Basque Country, Spain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19586905 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Noelia Zafra-Calvo (0000-0003-3350-0784, Basque Centre for Climate Change, corresponding author), Unai Ortega (0000-0001-7773-7973, University of the Basque Country), Unai Sertutxa (0000-0003-1961-5649, University of the Basque Country), Céline Moreaux (0000-0003-0239-4288, Basque Centre for Climate Change) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Pages | 100727 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Trees Forests and People (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2666-7193 • E-ISSN: 2666-7193 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100727 |
| OpenAlex | W4404436557 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 50 |
The forestry sector is essential for achieving a transition towards sustainability because of the opportunities associated with the transformation of their management and practices. However, forest plantation management is characterised not only by ecological interactions but also by the complex dynamics that arise from the interaction of multiple actors, their knowledge and worldviews, and how actors can overcome barriers and lobby for their values and interests to be represented in policies and management. We illustrate this via a case study: the Basque Country in Spain. Drawing on 33 qualitative in-depth semistructured interviews conducted in 2022 and 2023 with a wide variety of forestry actors, we aim to a) identify who the potential actors are that can trigger a change toward sustainable forest management, b) explore actors’ interactions and knowledge interchange that can foster a transformation toward sustainable forest management, and c) understand the opportunities and barriers that the main actors face to achieve sustainable forest plantation management. Our results show that a) those who may have the ability to induce a change in the forestry sector of the Basque Country are landowners, rangers and private sector companies; b) mutual learning happens in the day-to-day practices of forest plantation management while academic knowledge does not reach policy and practice; and c) barriers are related to managerial, political and individual dimensions that impair the way towards “close to nature” management and a “circular bioeconomy”, such as a perceived lack of supporting policies and knowledge, as well as increasing land abandonment. Opportunities to pose a potential way forward are, among others, forest plantations of native species providing high-quality timber, and opening access to additional markets, such as the ones funding the diversity of contributions that forest plantations may bring to people. Collaboration to overcome barriers for small-scale forest plantation management and actions to promote a stronger feeling of attachment to natural forests and forest plantations are essential to achieve sustainable forest management in the Basque Country
Business · Computer security · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Forest management · Geography · Sustainable forest management · Computer Science · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Forest Biomass Utilization and Management · Forest Management and Policy · Forestry
A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks
Who's in and why? A typology of stakeholder analysis methods for natural resource management
Social Research Methods
Conservation perspectives of small-scale private forest owners in Europe
An applied methodology for stakeholder identification in transdisciplinary research
Decision-making for nature’s contributions to people in the Cape Floristic Region
Scanning the solutions for the sustainable supply of forest ecosystem services in Europe
On Concepts and Paradigms in Mixed Methods Research
Value positions based on forest policy stakeholders’ rhetoric in Finland
Governing Europe's forests for multiple ecosystem services
The challenges of coordinating forest owners for joint management
Adapting forest management to climate change in Europe
Forest ownership changes in Europe
Close-to-nature forestry and intensive forestry – Two response patterns of forestry professionals towards climate change adaptation
Do forest policy actors learn through forward-thinking? Conflict and cooperation relating to the past, present and futures of sustainable forest management in Germany
Implementing nature conservation through integrated forest management
Towards sustainability? Forest-based circular bioeconomy business models in Finnish SMEs
Plural valuation of nature for equity and sustainability
The role of social networks in natural resource governance
Understanding private forest owners’ conceptualisation of forest management
Extension, advice and knowledge systems for private forestry
Identifying agents of change for sustainable land governance
Beyond “linking knowledge and action”
The Relevance of Local Participatory Scenario Planning for Ecosystem Management Policies in the Basque Country, Northern Spain
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |