Comparison between people's perceptions and preferences towards forest stand characteristics in Italy and Ukraine

Understanding people’s perceptions and preferences towards forest stand characteristics can bring many benefits to forest managers in the short term. This study aims to identify and compare people’s perception and preferences of forest stand characteristics in Trentino province (Italy) and Rakhiv region (Ukraine). These regions were chosen as study areas for two main reasons: both are in mountain areas and local communities are strictly dependent on the forest resource. Data were collected through a questionnaire administered to a sample of local people. The collected data were statistically analysed to highlight the preferred type of forests related to different stand characteristics. The results of comparative analysis confirmed the importance of socio-demographic characteristics in shaping respondents’ preferences. The results show that respondents in both case studies prefer mixed forests with a random distribution of trees with different diameter sizes. However, respondents from Trentino province prefer open forests, while respondents from Rakhiv region prefer closed one. The present study increased the level of knowledge about people's preferences in Italy and Ukraine for different forest stand characteristics. This information can be used by decision makers (forest managers and planners) to improve the recreational attractiveness of forest stands

Identifying and Comparing Obstacles and Incentives for the Implementation of Energy Saving Projects in Eastern and Western European Countries: An Exploratory Study

This comparison study of the implementation of energy-saving projects in buildings was conducted in order to consider the diversity of experiences between Western European countries, which have experience and expertise in this area, and those countries in Eastern Europe that are in the beginning stages. The goal of this paper is to analyze obstacles and incentives for investment in energy conservation in buildings by comparing European countries with a diverse landscape of institutional and economic developments, social-cultural values, and environmental framework conditions in order to understand if these differences are influencing the implementation of energy saving measures and how this can be used to overcome the existing obstacles. The study is based on survey results received from experts in Eastern and Western European countries. The main value of the research is that it offers an overview of the potentials and constraints (barriers) to energy efficiency in Europe, based on data from a sample of western and eastern European countries. Among the most important incentives that were implemented to stimulate energy-saving measures are costs savings and the need to meet regulatory requirements. The main obstacles that still restrict the number of already implemented projects in Europe are a lack of proper financial incentives and that many Eastern countries are still struggling to develop the market of Energy Saving Services (ESS) and to operate better energy waste control systems. The paper concludes with the successful incentives that were implemented to stimulate the energy-saving measures and the main obstacles that still restrict the number of already implemented projects in Europe. Additionally, a set of indicators related to the environmental friendliness and social significance of energy-saving measures was proposed for evaluation of the project results. These were used based on the fact that they may be measured and cater for comparisons. This paper can help improve policy-makers’ selections in order to improve economic instruments appropriate to energy-saving policy objectives and specific national contexts

Multifaceted value profiles of forest owner categories in South Sweden: The river helge å catchment as a case study

Forest landscapes provide benefits from a wide range of goods, function and intangible values. But what are different forest owner categories\u27 profiles of economic use and non-use values? This study focuses on the complex forest ownership pattern of the River Helge å catchment including the Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve in southern Sweden. We made 89 telephone interviews with informants representing the four main forest owner categories. Our mapping included consumptive and non-consumptive direct use values, indirect use values, and non-use values such as natural and cultural heritage. While the value profiles of non-industrial forest land owners and municipalities included all value categories, the forest companies focused on wood production, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency on nature protection. We discuss the challenges of communicating different forest owners\u27 economic value profiles among stakeholders, the need for a broader suite of forest management systems, and fora for collaborative planning. © 2013 The Author(s)

PESFOR-W: Improving the design and environmental effectiveness of woodlands for water Payments for Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT: The EU Water Framework Directive aims to ensure restoration of Europe?s water bodies to ?good ecological status? by 2027. Many Member States will struggle to meet this target, with around half of EU river catchments currently reporting below standard water quality. Diffuse pollution from agriculture represents a major pressure, affecting over 90% of river basins. Accumulating evidence shows that recent improvements to agricultural practices are benefiting water quality but in many cases will be insufficient to achieve WFD objectives. There is growing support for land use change to help bridge the gap, with a particular focus on targeted tree planting to intercept and reduce the delivery of diffuse pollutants to water. This form of integrated catchment management offers multiple benefits to society but a significant cost to landowners and managers. New economic instruments, in combination with spatial targeting, need to be developed to ensure cost effective solutions - including tree planting for water benefits - are realised. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are flexible, incentive-based mechanisms that could play an important role in promoting land use change to deliver water quality targets. The PESFOR-W COST Action will consolidate learning from existing woodlands for water PES schemes in Europe and help standardize approaches to evaluating the environmental effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of woodland measures. It will also create a European network through which PES schemes can be facilitated, extended and improved, for example by incorporating other ecosystem services linking with aims of the wider forestscarbon policy nexus

Multi-faceted value profiles of forest owner categories in South Sweden: The River Helge å catchment as a case study. AMBIO. doi

profiles of non-industrial forest land owners and municipalities included all value categories, the forest companies focused on wood production, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency on nature protection. We discuss the challenges of communicating different forest owners' economic value profiles among stakeholders, the need for a broader suite of forest management systems, and fora for collaborative planning

Multi-faceted value profiles of forest owner categories in South Sweden: The River Helge å catchment as a case study. AMBIO. doi

profiles of non-industrial forest land owners and municipalities included all value categories, the forest companies focused on wood production, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency on nature protection. We discuss the challenges of communicating different forest owners' economic value profiles among stakeholders, the need for a broader suite of forest management systems, and fora for collaborative planning

Beyond participation!:social innovations facilitating movement from authoritative state to participatory forest governance in Ukraine

Abstract Tuning participatory processes is often insufficient to achieve transition from authoritative state to democratic and participatory forest governance due to institutional inertia and unwillingness to truly decentralize decision-making power. Social innovations as reconfigurations of relationships between state, market actors, civil society and science can help to meet concerns of local people about forest Ecosystem Services (ES). In Ukraine, the Swiss-Ukrainian Forest Development (FORZA) pilot project initiated a social innovation process complementing regional forest planning with local participatory community development plans in Transcarpathia. This paper examines what kind of changes need to accompany the succession of participatory practices in transition processes from authoritative state to democratic forest governance, and what are the lessons learned for social innovations based on the Ukrainian case study. This paper synthesizes knowledge on the FORZA case analyzed by inductive content analysis, and integrates these local level results with a national survey (N = 244) on Ukrainian forest governance. Transition processes need to go “beyond participation” by (i) legal reforms to better acknowledge ES important for local people, (ii) a change from an exclusive focus on timber to acknowledging multiple ES, (iii) changed spatial and temporal rationales of state-based governance, and (iv) recognition of local people as credible experts. Social innovations can detect key barriers to the transition during the policy experiments, and need to pay significant attention on how the novel practices can be sustained after the pilot, replicated elsewhere and up-scaled. Without such considerations, social innovation projects may only remain as a marginal curiosity

Identifying and understanding attitudinal diversity on multi-functional changes in woodlands of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract This paper advances existing knowledge of stakeholder attitudes towards ecosystem-based forest strategies and management practices in marginalized mountain areas of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The principal research question was to analyse the state of affairs regarding multi-functional changes in upland woodlands, as viewed by relevant stakeholders. An ultimate goal was to assist decision-makers in evaluation (e.g. through stakeholder evaluation using the suggested method) and implementation (through stakeholder engagement) of sustainable policy and management decisions. The Q-method, with the sequential application of its correlation and factor analytical tools, was applied to elucidate a range of existing attitudes (e.g. towards the expansion of woodlands under climate change and other drivers) and the spectrum of sustainability (its ecological, economic and social components) to which they relate. Dominant attitudes of representatives of relevant stakeholder groups towards multi-functional changes in forestry in the Carpathian Mountains were revealed and analysed. Key factors influencing the attitudinal diversity were explained. The results improve our understanding of stakeholder priorities and of commonalities and differences in existing attitudes/perceptions, providing some indication of how the diversity of attitudes towards forestry changes (e.g. integration of woodlands in mountain landscapes) could potentially influence sustainable forestry decisions. At times, entirely opposite attitudes (e.g. of the so-called Conservationists and Productivists attitudinal groups) towards forestry practices and key objectives of forestry in the Carpathian uplands were revealed. However, people put strong emphasis on multi-functional forestry offering a range of benefits to people, the environment and the economy

How do stakeholders working on the forest-water nexus perceive payments for ecosystem services?

Nowadays, great emphasis is placed on the relationship between forest and water because forests are considered as substantial sources of many water ecosystem services. The aim of this paper is to analyze the stakeholder opinions towards the relationship between forests and water and the potential development of water-related payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. The study is developed in the context of COST Action CA15206–PESFOR-W (Forests for Water) aimed at synthesizing current knowledge about the PES schemes across Europe. The stakeholder opinions were mapped out using a structured questionnaire consisting of 20 questions divided into four thematic sections. The data were collected through an online survey. The results showed opinions of 142 stakeholders from 23 countries, mainly from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. In order to analyze the collected data, the stakeholders were grouped in buyers, sellers, intermediaries, and knowledge providers. The survey results indicated that the most important category of water ecosystem services according to our sample of stakeholders is regulating services followed by provisioning services. Further findings pointed out the highest importance that shared values and direct changes in land management can have when designing water-related PES schemes. The role of public authorities and collective collaboration of different stakeholders, with emphasis on local and expert knowledge, are also identified as of crucial importance. The results show that stakeholder opinions can serve as a starting point when designing PES schemes