Two decades of forest-related legislation changes in European countries analysed from a property rights perspective

Forest governance; Institutional changes; PRIF; Private ownership; Property rights; Biodiversity; Climate change; Decision making; Public policy; Sustainable development; Institutional change; Private ownerships; Property right; Forestry; Forest Management; Legislation; Paper; Public Ownership; Western Europe

Abstract :

[en] In the last two decades, attention on forests and ownership rights has increased in different domains of international policy, particularly in relation to achieving the global sustainable development goals. This paper looks at the changes in forest-specific legislation applicable to regular productive forests, across 28 European countries. We compare the legal framework applicable in the mid-1990s with that applicable in 2015, using the Property Rights Index in Forestry (PRIF) to measure changes across time and space. The paper shows that forest owners in most western European countries already had high decision-making power in the mid-1990s, following deregulation trends from the 1980s; and for the next two decades, distribution of rights remained largely stable. For these countries, the content and direction of changes indicate that the main pressure on forest-focused legislation comes from environmental discourses (e.g. biodiversity and climate change policies). In contrast, former socialist countries in the mid-1990s gave lower decision-making powers to forest owners than in any of the Western Europe countries; over the next 20 years these show remarkable changes in management, exclusion and withdrawal rights. As a result of these changes, there is no longer a clear line between western and former socialist countries with respect to the national governance systems used to address private forest ownership. Nevertheless, with the exception of Baltic countries which have moved towards the western forest governance system, most of the former socialist countries still maintain a state-centred approach in private forest management. Overall, most of the changes we identified in the last two decades across Europe were recorded in the categories of management rights and exclusion rights. These changes reflect the general trend in European forest policies to expand and reinforce the landowners’ individual rights, while preserving minimal rights for other categories of forest users; and to promote the use of financial instruments when targeting policy goals related to the environmental discourse. © 2020 The Authors

Disciplines :

Life sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others

Author, co-author :

Nichiforel, L.; University Stefan cel Mare Suceava, Faculty of Forestry, Suceava, 720225, Romania

Deuffic, P.; National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Cestas Cedex33612, France

Thorsen, B. J.; University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics and Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Frb. C, Copenhagen, 1958, Denmark

Weiss, G.; Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) and European Forest Institute, Forest Policy Research Network, Vienna, A-1180, Austria

Hujala, T.; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)Helsinki 00790, Finland, University of Eastern Finland, School of Forest Sciences, Joensuu, 80100, Finland

Keary, K.; Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine, Forest Service, Dublin, D02WK12, Ireland

Lawrence, A.; University of the Highlands and Islands, Perth, Scotland PH1 2NX, United Kingdom

Avdibegović, M.; University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Forestry, Sarajevo, 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dobšinská, Z.; Technical University Zvolen, Faculty of Forestry, Zvolen, 96001, Slovakia

Feliciano, D.; University of Aberdeen, School of Biological Sciences, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 3UU, United Kingdom

More authors (26 more)

Language :

English

Title :

Two decades of forest-related legislation changes in European countries analysed from a property rights perspective

Publication date :

2020

Journal title :

Forest Policy and Economics

ISSN :

1389-9341

eISSN :

1872-7050

Publisher :

Elsevier B.V.

Volume :

115

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

EVA4.0, QK1820041, CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000803Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS, ARRSMinistarstvo Prosvete, Nauke i TehnoloÅ¡kog Razvoja, MPNTR: P4 – 0059AgentÃºra na Podporu VÃ½skumu a VÃ½voja, APVVHorizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020DNRF96

Available on ORBi :

since 15 September 2020

Statistics

Number of views

56 (4 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

3 (2 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Alliance Environment, Evaluation Study of the Forestry Measures under Rural Development. 2017, 10.2762/06029.
Alphandéry, P., Fortier, A., Can a territorial policy be based on science alone? The system for creating the Natura 2000 network in France. Sociol. Rural. 41 (2001), 311–328, 10.1111/1467-9523.00185.
Arts, B., Appelstrand, M., Kleinschmit, D., Pülzl, H., Visseren-Hamakers, I., Eba, A., Atyi, R., Enters, T., Mcginley, K., Yasmi, Y., Discourses, actors and instruments in international forest governance. Embracing Complexity: Meeting the Challenges of International Forest Governance. IUFRO World Series 28, Vienna, Austria, 2010, 57–73.
Avdibegović, M., Dragan, N.D., Posavec, S., Petrović, N., Marić, B., Milijić, V., Krajter, S., Ioras, F., Abrudan, I.V., Policy options for private forest owners in Western Balkans: a qualitative study. Not. Bot. Horti Agrobot. Cluj-Napoca 38 (2010), 257–261.
Bouriaud, L., Schmithüsen, F., Allocation of property rights on forests through ownership reform and forest policies in central and eastern European countries. Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwes 156 (2005), 297–305, 10.3188/szf.2005.0297.
Bouriaud, L., Kastenholz, E., Fodrek, L., Karaszewski, Z., Mederski, P., Rimmler, T., Rummukainen, A., Sadauskiene, L., Salka, J., Teder, M., Policy and market-related factors for innovation in Forest operation enterprises. Weiss, G., Pettenella, D., Ollonqvist, P., Slee, R., (eds.) Innovation in Forestry: Territorial and Value Chain Relationships, 2011, CABI International, 276–293.
Bouriaud, L., Nichiforel, L., Weiss, G., Bajraktari, A., Curovic, M., Dobsinska, Z., Glavonjic, P., Jarský, V., Sarvasova, Z., Teder, M., Zalite, Z., Governance of private forests in eastern and Central Europe: an analysis of forest harvesting and management rights. Ann. For. Res., 56, 2013, 10.15287/afr.2013.54.
Brukas, V., Thorsen, B.J., Helles, F., Tarp, P., Discount rate and harvest policy: implications for Baltic forestry. For. Policy Econ. 2 (2001), 143–156, 10.1016/S1389-9341(01)00050-8.
Brukas, V., Felton, A., Lindbladh, M., Sallnäs, O., Linking forest management, policy and biodiversity indicators–a comparison of Lithuania and southern Sweden. For. Ecol. Manag. 291 (2013), 181–189, 10.1016/j.foreco.2012.11.034.
Buliga, B., Nichiforel, L., Voluntary forest certification vs. stringent legal frameworks: Romania as a case study. J. Clean. Prod. 207 (2019), 329–342, 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.021.
Cashore, B., Gale, F., Meidinger, E., Newsom, D., Confronting Sustainability: Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning Countries. 2006, Yale University Faculty of Environmental Studies Publication Series.
CNPF, Rapport d'activité. Paris. 2015.
Coleman, E.A., Common property rights, adaptive capacity, and response to forest disturbance. Glob. Environ. Chang. 21 (2011), 855–865, 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.03.012.
Dembner, S.A., Forestry in Countries with Economies in Transition. Unasylva. 179, 1994.
Deuffic, P., Sotirov, M., Arts, B., “Your policy, my rationale”. How individual and structural drivers influence European forest owners’ decisions. Land Use Policy 79 (2018), 1024–1038 https://10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.09.021.
Dobšinská, Z., Živojinović, I., Nedeljković, J., Petrović, N., Jarský, V., Oliva, J., Šálka, J., Sarvašová, Z., Weiss, G., Actor power in the restitution processes of forests in three European countries in transition. For. Policy Econ., 113, 2020, 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102090.
Drăgoi, M., Toza, V., Did forest land restitution facilitate institutional amnesia? Some evidence from Romanian forest policy. Land, 8(6), 2019, 99, 10.3390/land8060099.
EC, Our Life Insurance, our Natural Capital: An EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 (COM (2011) 244). 2011, European Commission.
Feliciano, D., Bouriaud, L., Brahic, E., Deuffic, P., Dobsinska, Z., Jarsky, V., Lawrence, A., Nybakk, E., Quiroga, S., Suarez, C., Ficko, A., Understanding private forest owners’ conceptualisation of forest management: evidence from a survey in seven European countries. J. Rural. Stud. 54 (2017), 162–176, 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.06.016.
Glück, P., Property rights and multipurpose mountain forest management. For. Policy Econ. 4 (2002), 125–134, 10.1016/S1389-9341(02)00012-6.
Glück, P., Rayner, J., Cashore, B., Changes in the governance of forest resources. IUFRO World Series, vol. 17, 2005, 51–74.
Glück, P., Avdibegović, M., Čabaravdić, A., Nonić, D., Petrović, N., Posavec, S., Stojanovska, M., Private forest owners in the Western Balkans – Ready for the formation of interest association. European Forest Institute Research Report 25, 2011, EFI, Joensuu.
Górriz-Mifsud, E., Govigli, V.M., Bonet, J.A., What to do with mushroom pickers in my forest? Policy tools from the landowners’ perspective. Land Use Policy 63 (2017), 450–460, 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.02.003.
Humphreys, D., Discourse as ideology: neoliberalism and the limits of international forest policy. For. Policy Econ 11:5–6 (2009), 319–325, 10.1016/j.forpol.2008.08.008.
Jacobsen, J.B., Vedel, S.E., Thorsen, B.J., Assessing costs of multifunctional NATURA 2000 management restrictions in continuous cover beech forest management. Forestry 86 (2013), 575–582, 10.1093/forestry/cpt023.
Jarský, V., Dobšinská, Z., Hrib, M., Oliva, J., Sarvašová, Z., Šálka, J., Restitution of forest property in the Czech Republic and Slovakia–common beginnings with different outcomes?. Cent. Eur. For. J. 64 (2018), 195–206, 10.1515/forj-2017-0045.
Klapwijk, M.J., Boberg, J., Lundmark, T., Stenlid, J., Sonesson, J., Nordström, E.-M., Felton, A., Bishop, K., Björkman, C., Ellison, D., Lidskog, R., Mårald, E., Keskitalo, E.C.H., Bergh, J., Nordin, A., Capturing complexity: forests, decision-making and climate change mitigation action. Glob. Environ. Chang. 52 (2018), 238–247, 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.07.012.
Kleinschmit, D., Lindstad, B.H., Thorsen, B.J., Toppinen, A., Roos, A., Baardsen, S., Shades of green: a social scientific view on bioeconomy in the forest sector. Scand. J. For. Res. 29 (2014), 402–410, 10.1080/02827581.2014.921722.
Krajter Ostoić, S., Vuletić, D., The role of information in understanding forest ecosystem services. Šumarski List 140:5-6 (2016), 215–227, 10.31298/sl.140.5-6.1.
Larson, A.M., Brockhaus, M., Sunderlin, W.D., Duchelle, A., Dokken, T., Babon, A., Pham, T.T., Resosudarmo, I.A.P., Awono, A., Huynh, T.-B., Selaya, G., Land tenure and REDD+: the good, the bad and the ugly. Glob. Environ. Chang. 23 (2013), 678–689, 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.02.014.
Lawrence, A., Forestry in transition: Imperial legacy and negotiated expertise in Romania and Poland. For. Policy Econ. 11 (2009), 429–436, 10.1016/j.forpol.2009.02.003.
Lawrence, A., Do interventions to mobilize wood lead to wood mobilization? A critical review of the links between policy aims and private forest owners’ behaviour. Forestry 91 (2018), 401–418, 10.1093/forestry/cpy017.
Leipold, S., Feindt, P.H., Winkel, G., Keller, R., Discourse analysis of environmental policy revisited: traditions, trends, perspectives. J. Environ. Policy Plan. 21:5 (2019), 445–463, 10.1080/1523908X.2019.1660462.
McCauley, D., Sustainable development and the ‘governance challenge’: the French experience with Natura 2000. Eur. Environ. 18 (2008), 152–167, 10.1002/eet.478.
Möllering, G., Collective Institutional Entrepreneurship? The Recursive Interplay of Action, Networks and Institutions in Market Constitution. 2007, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne (23p).
Nichiforel, L., Schanz, H., Property rights distribution and entrepreneurial rent-seeking in Romanian forestry: a perspective of private forest owners. Eur. J. For. Res., 130, 2011, 10.1007/s10342-009-0337-8.
Nichiforel, L., Hujala, T., Policy instruments and legislation to govern forest ownership. Lawrence, A., (eds.) Who owns our forests? Forest ownership in the ECE region., 2019, UNECE/FAO, Geneva, 86–100 ECE/TIM/SP/43.
Nichiforel, L., Keary, K., Deuffic, P., Weiss, G., Thorsen, B.J., Winkel, G., Avdibegović, M., Dobšinská, Z., Feliciano, D., Gatto, P., Gorriz Mifsud, E., Hoogstra-Klein, M., Hrib, M., Hujala, T., Jager, L., Jarský, V., Jodłowski, K., Lawrence, A., Lukmine, D., Pezdevšek Malovrh, Š., Nedeljković, J., Nonić, D., Krajter Ostoić, S., Pukall, K., Rondeux, J., Samara, T., Sarvašová, Z., Scriban, R.E., Šilingienė, R., Sinko, M., Stojanovska, M., Stojanovski, V., Stoyanov, N., Teder, M., Vennesland, B., Vilkriste, L., Wilhelmsson, E., Wilkes-Allemann, J., Bouriaud, L., How private are Europe's private forests? A comparative property rights analysis. Land Use Policy, 76, 2018, 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.02.034.
Nonic, D., Bliss, J.C., Milijic, V., Petrovic, N., Avdibegovic, M., Mataruga, M., Challenges of organizing private Forest owners in Serbia. Small Scale For. 10 (2011), 435–455, 10.1007/s11842-011-9160-4.
North, D.C., Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. 1990, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Orazio, C., Kies, U., Edwards, D., Handbook for Wood Mobilisation in Europe. 2017, Measures for increasing wood supply from sustainably managed forests, European Forest Institute.
Ostrom, E., Hess, C., Private and Common Property Rights, Encyclopedia of law & Economics. 2008, Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA.
Primmer, E., Paloniemi, R., Similä, J., Tainio, A., Forest owner perceptions of institutions and voluntary contracting for biodiversity conservation: not crowding out but staying out. Ecol. Econ. 103 (2014), 1–10, 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.04.008.
Pukall, K., Douglas-fir discourse in Germany. Spiecker, H., Lindner, M., Schuler, J., (eds.) Douglas-fir – an option for Europe. What science can tell us 9, 2019, European Forest Institute, Joensuu.
Pülzl, H., Hogl, K., Kleinschmit, D., Wydra, D., Arts, B., Mayer, P., Palahi, M., Winkel, G., Wolfslehner, B., European Forest governance: Issues at stake and the way forward. EFI Series: What Science Can Tell us 2, 2013, European Forest Institute, Joensuu.
Pülzl, H., Kleinschmit, D., Arts, B., Bioeconomy - an emerging meta-discourse affecting forest discourses?. Scand. J. For. Res. 29 (2014), 386–393, 10.1080/02827581.2014.920044.
Sarvašová, Z., Ali, T., Đorđević, I., Lukmine, D., Quiroga, S., Suárez, C., Hrib, M., Rondeux, J., Mantzanas, K.T., Franz, K., Natura 2000 payments for private forest owners in rural development programmes 2007–2013 - a comparative view. For. Policy Econ. 99 (2019), 123–135, 10.1016/j.forpol.2017.08.019.
Schlager, E., Ostrom, E., Property-rights regimes and natural resources: a conceptual analysis. Land Econ., 1992, 249–262, 10.2307/3146375.
Schmithüsen, F., Hirsch, F., Private Forest Ownership in Europe. 2010, UNECE/FAO.
Scriban, R.E., Nichiforel, L., Bouriaud, L.G., Barnoaiea, I., Cosofret, V.C., Barbu, C.O., Governance of the forest restitution process in Romania: an application of the DPSIR model. For. Policy Econ. 99 (2019), 59–67, 10.1016/j.forpol.2017.10.018.
Sergent, A., Arts, B., Edwards, P., Governance arrangements in the European forest sector: shifts towards ‘new governance’ or maintenance of state authority?. Land Use Policy 79 (2018), 968–976, 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.036.
Sikor, T., He, J., Lestrelin, G., Property rights regimes and natural resources: a conceptual analysis revisited. World Dev. 93 (2017), 337–349, 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.12.032.
Siry, J.P., McGinley, K., Cubbage, F.W., Bettinger, P., Forest tenure and sustainable Forest management. Open J. For. 5 (2015), 526–545, 10.4236/ojf.2015.55046.
Sotirov, M., Bastrup-Birk, A., Blum, M., Ecochard, L., Garcia, S., Greenwood, S., Grossmann, C., Hermoso, V., Hily, E., Jump, A., Marchetti, M., Mikusinski, G., Parviainen, J., Santopuoli, G., Sarvasova, Z., Schabel, A., Schmack, S., Vizzarri, M., Weiss, G., Natura 2000 and Forests - Assessing the State of Implementation and Effectiveness, What Science Can Tell us 7. 2017, European Forest Institute, Joensuu.
Stupak, I., Lattimore, B., Titus, B.D., Smith, C.T., Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest fuel production and harvesting: a review of current standards for sustainable forest management. Biomass Bioenergy 35:8 (2011), 3287–3308, 10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.11.032.
Teder, M., The role of institutional innovation in the development of the Estonian forest sector. Doctoral Theses of the Estonian University of Life Sciences, 2016, 10.15159/emu.20 195p.
Teder, M., Mizaraitė, D., Mizaras, S., Nonić, D., Nedeljković, J., Sarvašová, Z., Vilkriste, L., Zalite, Z., Weiss, G., Structural changes of state forest management organizations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Slovakia since 1990. Balt. For. 21:2 (2015), 326–339.
Toppinen, A., Li, N., Tuppura, A., Xiong, Y., Corporate responsibility and strategic groups in the forest-based industry: exploratory analysis based on the global reporting initiative (GRI) framework. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Manag. 19 (2012), 191–205, 10.1002/csr.256.
UNECE/FAO, Who owns our forests? Forest ownership in the ECE region, 2019, United Nations Publications, Geneva, ECE/TIM/SP/43.
Vatn, A., Environmental resources, property regimes, and efficiency. Environ. Plan. C Gov. Policy 19 (2001), 665–680, 10.1068/c17s.
Weiland, S., Sustainability transitions in transition countries: forest policy reforms in South-Eastern Europe. Environ. Policy Gov. 20 (2010), 397–407, 10.1002/eet.558.
Weiss, G., Sotirov, M., Sarvasova, Z., Implementation of Natura 2000 in forests. Sotirov, M., (eds.) Natura 2000 and forests – assessing the state of implementation and effectiveness. What science can tell us 7, 2017, European Forest Institute, Joensuu.
Weiss, G., Quiroga, S., Sarvašová, Z., Nybakk, E., Lawrence, A., Živojinović, I., Lidestav, G., Hujala, T., Nichiforel, L., Suarez, C., Forest ownership changes in Europe: state of knowledge and conceptual foundations. For. Policy Econ. 99 (2019), 9–20, 10.1016/j.forpol.2018.03.003.
Weiss, G., Lawrence, A., Lidestav, G., Feliciano, D., Hujala, T., Sarvašová, Z., Dobšinská, Z., Živojinović, I., Research trends: Forest ownership in multiple perspectives. For. Policy Econ. 99 (2019), 1–8, 10.1016/j.forpol.2018.10.006.
Winkel, G., (eds.) Towards a Sustainable European Forest-Based Bioeconomy: Assessment and the Way Forward. What Science can tell us, 8, 2017, European Forest Institute, Joensuu.
Winkel, G., Sotirov, M., Whose integration is this? European forest policy between the gospel of coordination, institutional competition, and a new spirit of integration. Environ. Plan. C: Gov. Policy 34:3 (2016), 496–514, 10.1068/c1356j.
Winkel, G., Gleißner, J., Pistorius, T., Sotirov, M., Storch, S., The sustainably managed forest heats up: discursive struggles over forest management and climate change in Germany. Crit. Policy Stud. 5 (2011), 361–390, 10.1080/19460171.2011.628002.
Non-wood forest products in Europe: Seeing the forest around the trees. Wolfslehner, B., Prokofieva, I., Mavsar, R., (eds.) What Science Can Tell us 10, 2019, Institute. Joensuu, European Forest.