The impact of community forest formalisation on tenure security and co-management in Thailand

The formalisation of community forestry through legal registration could enhance the tenure security of local communities, although its effectiveness remains unclear. The issue of whether Thailand's registration programme strengthened the tenure security of community forests and altered their customary forest institutions was investigated. The tenure security and forest management of registered community forests with varying levels of tenure disputes were compared across five different localities. The formalisation process and its effects on tenure security were discussed with representatives from communal forest committees and forest officials. Findings indicated that neither management organisation nor forest rules were altered following registration but remained adapted to local forest uses. Moreover, forest communities were confident in the assurance of their use and management rights. The registration generally enabled communities to prevent further forest encroachment and resolve conflicts if forest officials and police provided support. However, limited financial resources hindered communities to manage and monitor forests effectively.

Optimizing State Forest Institutions for Forest People: A Case Study on Social Sustainability from Tunisia

In Tunisia the livelihoods of nearly 750,000 “forest people” strongly depend on state forests. State forest institutions that manage more than 90% of forests have a special responsibility for the social sustainability of these people’s situation. Thus, it is important to evaluate the performance of these institutions, as such evaluations represent an option to help formulate sustainable development strategies for forest people. This study evaluates the performance of state forest institutions in regard to forest people based on a comprehensive three-layer model. The data were collected in 2016 and 2017 from documents, observations and interviews. The results partly supported the first hypothesis that “state forest institutions employ different market, non-market and political instruments to influence the use and the protection of forests”, with an exception for market instruments. The second hypothesis stating that “the outcomes of these instruments for forest people differ from those for the general forest sector” was supported by empirical evidence. The evaluation revealed practices in Tunisia that provide a basis for organizational reforms supporting forest people. Adapted technologies that fit the traditional know-how of forest people and a better representation are required. Furthermore, the strengthening of state forest institutions against the influence of foreign donors would contribute to elaborating a development strategy for forest people.

Entre la société et la forêt: voyage sur une interface (essai)

Forest and society: journey along an interface During the train journey to his work, the author looks through the windows on either side of the compartment. On one side, he sees the world of men, increasingly urban and technical, on the other, the forest. He notes that at the interface of these two worlds, the forester's work is becoming more and more complex and sensitive. He makes proposals about the scale of management of the forest, and the level at which the forester should become involved. He believes that today's generation is responsible for putting in place the framework necessary for the conservation of biodiversity, and proposes the creation of a specialised working group of the Swiss Forestry Society and a national centre of competence for this challenge. He notes the challenges for forest management and silviculture arising in connection with climate change and scarcity of energy. Finally, he concludes that because of a favourable politico-institutional context, the community of those responsible for forest institutions is morally obliged to act in an effective and far-sighted way to safeguard what has been achieved, while adapting to the evolution of our world and anticipating changes. The author concludes that the draft modification to the forest law at present being discussed by the federal parliament is a positive development, and calls on the forest community to unite in its support.

Forestry of Serbia - achievement of Millenium Goals in the era of climate change and globalization

This paper is a review presenting research results on the forest ecosystems of Serbia that are carried out at the Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) in the context of climate change and globalisation. The review displays results of the long-term monitoring of the forest ecosystems, where the data were obtained at the permanent experimental trials of IPC-Forests (level 2) and the iLTER's network. All findings are systematically divided according to the research disciplines and the most important tree species (poplar, willow, oak, wild cherry and European beech). Also the aspects of social sciences are included (meaning evaluating forest institutions in the first place). This review is meant to contribute inputs to the ongoing discussion about the achievement of the Millenium Goals of Sustainable Development in the context of Serbian forestry.

Istituzioni, imprese e costi di transazione nel mercato nazionale del legno

The nature of public good of the forest, and also the failures and short-sightedness of the market, these are the main motivation that justify forestry institutions. Using Musgrave distinction to frame the forests as a merit good and, potential, demerit good, Author provides a different interpretation of the reasons for the presence of forest institutions and outlines the two general aims that should characterize their action: pursuing policies to enhance the merit function and also policies for safeguarding the forest from degradation processes. Reflecting on the experience of national forestry institutions, them have always been operated towards what we now call sustainable forest development. In this role institutions have played an indirect way on the timber market, reducing the degrees of freedom of the forest owners and the logging company. This was done by defining requirements, procedures and technology standards and results, which effect is the transaction costs in the forestry accounting. For the latter, the study provides a social interpretation, however, given inefficiency that frequently characterized forest institutions, the author indicates strategies to reduce them monetary impacts.