Discourses on sustainable forest management and their integration into climate policies in South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21719972 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chidiebere Ofoegbu (0000-0002-8920-9411, University of Bern, corresponding author), Chinwe Ifejika Speranza (0000-0003-1927-7635, University of Bern) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 168-181 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International Forestry Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-5489 • E-ISSN: 2053-7778 |
| Publisher | Commonwealth Forestry Association (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1505/146554821832952762 |
| OpenAlex | W3175713732 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 11 |
In South Africa, forests can play an important role in achieving the broader goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, national policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation seem to narrow the potential contributions of the forest sector to climate protection targets. This is largely because of the divergence between the management goals of forests for climate protection, and products for both industries and livelihoods. This article uses discourse analysis as a methodological tool to analyze South Africa's climate and forest policies to identify the discourses shaping forest policy goals and mandates, and their integration into climate policy targets for forest-based climate change interventions. Four discourses, namely, preservation of forest integrity, social inclusiveness, equitable benefit sharing, and inclusive development of forests and forest-based communities, were identified as the dominant discourses influencing forest policy goals in South Africa. Their influence on forest management programmes has a mix of costs and benefits outcomes. For example, policy responses to the discourse on the preservation of forest integrity have resulted in ecologically sustainable forests in some cases and in other cases restricted the participation of local people in forest enterprise development. Additionally, climate policies recognized six possible interventions with respect to forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation in South Africa but were silent about the four discourses shaping forest policy goals. Consequently, existing climate policies do not contain regulations to guide forest management for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We therefore recommend that forest-related goals in climate policy be grounded in the past experiences and lessons of forest policy implementations in order to take advantage of the synergies and reduce the trade-offs with respect to multipurpose management of forests for livelihoods, enterprise development, and climate change mitigation and adaptation
Agriculture · Business · Climate change · Climate change mitigation · Ecoforestry · Economics · Ecosystem · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Forest ecology · Forest management · Geography · Intact forest landscape · Livelihood · Political science · Sustainable development · Sustainable forest management · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Forest Management and Policy · Ecology · Forestry
A Policy‐Driven Knowledge Agenda for Global Forest and Landscape Restoration
Integrating climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and forestry
South Africa's national Redd+ initiative
Barriers to policy implementation and implications for Zambia's forest ecosystems
Experiences of policy reforms of the forest sector in transition and other countries
The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa
Prehistory of Southern African Forestry
The Congo Basin forests in a changing climate
Does “Participation” in Common Pool Resource Management Help the Poor? A Social Cost–Benefit Analysis of Joint Forest Management in Jharkhand, India
Assessment of settlement models for engagement of communities in forest land under claim in Jessievale and Roburna communities in Mpumalanga, South Africa
When Participatory Forest Management makes money
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |