Inhaltliche und prozedurale Anforderungen an ein Nationales Forstpolitisches Programm, dargestellt am Beispiel Schweiz

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C99.0118

Key words (English)

National Forest Programmes; Swiss Forest Policy; International Forest Policy; Sustainability; Principles and Criteria; Institutions; Instruments

Research programs (English)

COST-Action E19 - National Forest Programmes

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise: ETH Zürich Institut für Umweltentscheidungen Professur Umweltpolitik und Umweltökonomie

Partners and International Organizations (English)

A, B, CY, DK, FIN, F, D, H, IRL, I, LT, NL, N, PL, P, E, S, CH, GB

Abstract (English)

Both the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992 and the European Union called for National Forest Programmes (NFPs) as a means to ensure sustainable development of forests. During the last decade, international organisations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests or the United Nations Forum on Forests discussed and defined several principles for such NFPs. Different concepts prevail, however, and a coherent understanding among forest policy-makers and scientists does not yet exist. In this project, we seek to develop minimal requirements for NFPs on the basis of a discussion and comparison of different definitions of NFPs, national environmental plans, and NFP policy processes in various European countries. We find that nine requirements are of special importance for an NFP to unfold its function as a modern policy planning instrument that works according to a collaborative governance approach. Our analysis includes procedural, content and politico-institutional elements. For each of the nine elements we elaborate the theoretical and methodological frameworks. Working with this set of minimal requirements for NFPs we critically examine NFP experiences of European countries as well as the recently launched Swiss National Forest Programme. The Swiss National Forest Programme provides an interesting example of the recent struggles over meaning and contents of sustainable forest management in Swiss forest policy. We identify key stakeholders involved in the NFP processes and reveal prevalent conflicts between economic and ecological interests in forest policy. By using our set of criteria we assess the possibilities and constraints for participation, collaborative decision-making, and conflict resolution. Our findings make a contribution to the scientific debate of environmental governance and participatory policy planning.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C99.0118