Global Forest Governance – Discussing legal scholarship from political science perspectives

Scholarship in international law aims at addressing global forest governance comprehensively. This article reviews the recent contribution Global Forest Governance - Legal Concepts and Policy Trends by Rowena Maguire and puts it into the perspective of recent political and policy science research on global forests. While finding Maguire's volume being a very timely and valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary discussions on international forest governance, we identify some weaknesses which are mostly rooted in methodological critique and a lack of a systematic framework for analysis

Identificación de los principales actores y sus posiciones sobre asuntos internacionales de política forestal en Argentina

Desde la Cumbre de la Tierra, en 1992, el manejo y conservación de los bosques se han convertido en temas importantes en la política forestal internacional. Como resultado, distintas iniciativas internacionales abordaron el tema de manera directa o indirecta, conformándose un cuerpo normativo de leyes y acuerdos fragmentado sobre los bosques de alcance internacional. Los temas que conforman este régimen normativo se convierten en relevantes de distinta manera por medio de varios actores en diferentes países. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue identificar los principales temas de política forestal internacional relevantes en Argentina así como los principales actores involucrados y sus posiciones frente a los mismos como resultado de sus intereses. Para la identificación de estos temas se consultaron fuentes públicas (diarios nacionales, páginas web) así como expertas (entrevistas y publicaciones profesionales) entre el 2008 - 2012. Los actores más importantes fueron identificados y categorizados. Las posiciones de los distintos actores se obtuvieron mediante el análisis de las fuentes. Los temas de política forestal internacional identificados en la Argentina fueron: cambio climático y bosques, biodiversidad en sistemas forestales, iniciativas de políticas forestales regionales, competencia de sistemas de certificación forestal, desertificación,disputas bilaterales referentes a bosques y financiamiento de organismos internacionales en temas forestales. Los diferentes actores identificados presentaron posiciones encontradas con respecto a los temas, detectándose el cambio climático y bosques como el más conflictivo entre actores, principalmente entre ONG ambientalistas y asociaciones forestales y la Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustantable y el Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca.Since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, forest management and conservation have become important issues in international forest-related politics and policies. As a result, different international initiatives have dealt with the subject directly or indirectly, building up a fragmented international forest regime complex made of international laws and agreements about forests. The diverse elements of this regime complex are differently made relevant by various actors in different countries. The aim of this study was to identify the most relevant forest issue elements in Argentina as well as the main involved actors and their positions towards these elements as a result of their interests. To identify the issues, content analysis of documents was employed on public sources (newspapers, websites) as well as expert sources (personal interviews and professional journals) from 2008 - 2012. The most relevant actors were identified and categorized. The positions of the different actors were obtained analyzing the different sources. The forest issue elements found to be relevant in Argentina are: climate change and forests, forest biodiversity, regional forest-related policy initiatives, competing forest certification schemes, desertification, bilateral forest related disputes and forest-related support by international organizations. The various actors identified showed different positions regarding a diversity of issues, being climate change and forests the most conflictive concern among actors, especially among environmental NGOs and forestry associations and the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientales (LISEA

Identificación de los principales actores y sus posiciones sobre asuntos internacionales de política forestal en Argentina

Desde la Cumbre de la Tierra, en 1992, el manejo y conservación de los bosques se han convertido en temas importantes en la política forestal internacional. Como resultado, distintas iniciativas internacionales abordaron el tema de manera directa o indirecta, conformándose un cuerpo normativo de leyes y acuerdos fragmentado sobre los bosques de alcance internacional. Los temas que conforman este régimen normativo se convierten en relevantes de distinta manera por medio de varios actores en diferentes países. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue identificar los principales temas de política forestal internacional relevantes en Argentina así como los principales actores involucrados y sus posiciones frente a los mismos como resultado de sus intereses. Para la identificación de estos temas se consultaron fuentes públicas (diarios nacionales, páginas web) así como expertas (entrevistas y publicaciones profesionales) entre el 2008 - 2012. Los actores más importantes fueron identificados y categorizados. Las posiciones de los distintos actores se obtuvieron mediante el análisis de las fuentes. Los temas de política forestal internacional identificados en la Argentina fueron: cambio climático y bosques, biodiversidad en sistemas forestales, iniciativas de políticas forestales regionales, competencia de sistemas de certificación forestal, desertificación,disputas bilaterales referentes a bosques y financiamiento de organismos internacionales en temas forestales. Los diferentes actores identificados presentaron posiciones encontradas con respecto a los temas, detectándose el cambio climático y bosques como el más conflictivo entre actores, principalmente entre ONG ambientalistas y asociaciones forestales y la Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustantable y el Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca.Since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, forest management and conservation have become important issues in international forest-related politics and policies. As a result, different international initiatives have dealt with the subject directly or indirectly, building up a fragmented international forest regime complex made of international laws and agreements about forests. The diverse elements of this regime complex are differently made relevant by various actors in different countries. The aim of this study was to identify the most relevant forest issue elements in Argentina as well as the main involved actors and their positions towards these elements as a result of their interests. To identify the issues, content analysis of documents was employed on public sources (newspapers, websites) as well as expert sources (personal interviews and professional journals) from 2008 - 2012. The most relevant actors were identified and categorized. The positions of the different actors were obtained analyzing the different sources. The forest issue elements found to be relevant in Argentina are: climate change and forests, forest biodiversity, regional forest-related policy initiatives, competing forest certification schemes, desertification, bilateral forest related disputes and forest-related support by international organizations. The various actors identified showed different positions regarding a diversity of issues, being climate change and forests the most conflictive concern among actors, especially among environmental NGOs and forestry associations and the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientales (LISEA

India in international climate governance: Through soft power from REDD to REDD+ policy in favor of relative gains

This paper seeks to examine India’s role in the politics of a specific climate change mitigation policy called “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+)”. It explores India’s strategic behaviour towards the development of REDD policy. The paper argues that India had pushed for the remodelling of the global REDD negotiations by expanding its scope to conservation activities, which entails more direct benefits for India. This is largely due to differences in India’s rates of forest cover and deforestation as compared to high forest - high deforestation countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. To substantiate its argument, the paper uses the main underpinnings of relative gains theory in international relations and applies them toward interpreting India’s behaviour in negotiating REDD+ at global level. Further, the paper analyses the Indian strategies used to remodel the REDD mechanism using insights from soft power theory and its more recent amendments. Thematic analysis of the REDD-relevant documents as well as exploratory expert interviews have been employed for showing India’s proactive role in the politics of REDD+. It is concluded that India indeed played a central role in critical past decisions, which lead to re-shaping REDD due to relative gains concerns and mainly by means of soft power strategies

From voluntary private to mandatory state governance in Indonesian forest certification: Reclaiming authority by bureaucracies

Forest certification has been introduced by non-state actors as a voluntary and market-based instrument addressing forest problems, which state policies failed to resolve. Lately, however, state-driven forest-related certification schemes can be observed, e.g. in Indonesia, through the EU FLEGT-VPA negotiation process. It is argued, specific state agencies in a struggle for power and authority develop mandatory certification schemes which are directly competing with private ones. Before this background, the aims of this study are: (i) describing the current trend from voluntary private to mandatory state certification schemes in Indonesia, (ii) mapping the main actors involved in certification politics, and (iii) explaining this trend with the interests of the main actors. The results confirm a trend from voluntary private to mandatory state-driven certification of forest management. The Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Industry, wood producer and processing associations, European Union, local funding organizations, environmental organizations, certification bodies and international buyers are detected as the main coalitions and actors in the certification politics. The stronger coalition develops a mandatorily-timber legality verification system as strategies to counter their voluntary private competitor schemes

Identificación de los principales actores y sus posiciones sobre asuntos internacionales de política forestal en Argentina

Desde la Cumbre de la Tierra, en 1992, el manejo y conservación de los bosques se han convertido en temas importantes en la política forestal internacional. Como resultado, distintas iniciativas internacionales abordaron el tema de manera directa o indirecta, conformándose un cuerpo normativo de leyes y acuerdos fragmentado sobre los bosques de alcance internacional. Los temas que conforman este régimen normativo se convierten en relevantes de distinta manera por medio de varios actores en diferentes países. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue identificar los principales temas de política forestal internacional relevantes en Argentina así como los principales actores involucrados y sus posiciones frente a los mismos como resultado de sus intereses. Para la identificación de estos temas se consultaron fuentes públicas (diarios nacionales, páginas web) así como expertas (entrevistas y publicaciones profesionales) entre el 2008 - 2012. Los actores más importantes fueron identificados y categorizados. Las posiciones de los distintos actores se obtuvieron mediante el análisis de las fuentes. Los temas de política forestal internacional identificados en la Argentina fueron: cambio climático y bosques, biodiversidad en sistemas forestales, iniciativas de políticas forestales regionales, competencia de sistemas de certificación forestal, desertificación,disputas bilaterales referentes a bosques y financiamiento de organismos internacionales en temas forestales. Los diferentes actores identificados presentaron posiciones encontradas con respecto a los temas, detectándose el cambio climático y bosques como el más conflictivo entre actores, principalmente entre ONG ambientalistas y asociaciones forestales y la Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustantable y el Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca.Since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, forest management and conservation have become important issues in international forest-related politics and policies. As a result, different international initiatives have dealt with the subject directly or indirectly, building up a fragmented international forest regime complex made of international laws and agreements about forests. The diverse elements of this regime complex are differently made relevant by various actors in different countries. The aim of this study was to identify the most relevant forest issue elements in Argentina as well as the main involved actors and their positions towards these elements as a result of their interests. To identify the issues, content analysis of documents was employed on public sources (newspapers, websites) as well as expert sources (personal interviews and professional journals) from 2008 - 2012. The most relevant actors were identified and categorized. The positions of the different actors were obtained analyzing the different sources. The forest issue elements found to be relevant in Argentina are: climate change and forests, forest biodiversity, regional forest-related policy initiatives, competing forest certification schemes, desertification, bilateral forest related disputes and forest-related support by international organizations. The various actors identified showed different positions regarding a diversity of issues, being climate change and forests the most conflictive concern among actors, especially among environmental NGOs and forestry associations and the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientales (LISEA

Third-Party Certification of Forest Management In Indonesia: Analysing Stakeholders' Recognition and Preferences

The existence of third-party forest and timber certification schemes in Indonesia has created benefits and challenges, mainly for forest industries. In the end, the interests and objectives of those industries will determine whether they decide to get certified and if so, what certification schemes they will use. This study analyses the stakeholder recognition of the competing forest legality and sustainability certification systems and describes the preferences for particular schemes based on stakeholder interests. Online questionnaires were distributed to relevant stakeholders, namely logging companies, wood processing industries, wood processing associations, auditors, academics, environmental organisations and government officials. The results indicate that there are different scheme preferences based on the stakeholder's interests. Sistem verifikasi legalitas kayu (SVLK) is the most frequently preferred scheme due to the simplicity of its requirements and the low cost of its certifying process, while the Forest stewardship council (FSC) is valued for its reputation and very high standards. Furthermore, lembaga ekolabel Indonesia (LEI) was least preferred because of its complexity and because it was unpopular with foreign end buyers, and the programme for the endorsement of forest certification (PEFC) was identified as being a complex scheme that was expensive and subject to high standards, and also appeared to have the least demand. Each scheme should be improved based on stakeholders' expectations, that their popularity with end buyers of timber products should be improved, and that this should be done in a way that allows logging and wood processing industries to choose freely the scheme that is most advantageous to them.

From governance to government: The strengthened role of state bureaucracies in forest and agricultural certification

Private institutions for third-party (eco-)labelling of food and wood products has been a lively field of empirical research, peaking in the conception of certification as a “non-state market-driven governance system,” which is gaining rule-making authority domestically and internationally as a private governance institution and a transnational regime. Recent findings, however, suggest that state actors also play a decisive role in private certification governance. Questions relating to who within the state, however, so far remain unaddressed. Very recent empirical trends in the fields of timber and palm oil certification in Indonesia suggest that it is distinct public bureaucracies who start reclaiming certification authority through state-led mandatory schemes, challenging the private and transnational certification institutions in support of government-driven international certification regimes. Against this background, the objective of this paper is to substantiate the trend from transnational private to international state-driven governance by analyzing the role of distinct state bureaucracies in the emergence, diffusion, and reshaping of private natural resource governance systems. To achieve these objectives, we develop our propositions by combining insights from political certification studies, regime theory, as well as bureaucratic politics theory. Methodologically, we employ a qualitative case study design on recent developments in forest, timber, and palm oil certification systems in Argentina and Indonesia. Our results substantiate the observation that distinct state actors play a key role in private governance systems and, in the case of Indonesia, even re-claim labelling authority from private institutions by attempting to outcompete them through employing their exclusive regulatory power. The results further indicate a strong, self-interested support from domestic state bureaucracies to state-driven international rather than to transnational certification regimes, supporting the temporary governance hypothesis. We discuss and conclude on our results in light of literatures on private governance, policy sectors as well as international relations theory on the emergence of international and transnational regimes.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y ForestalesLaboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientale