From failure to value: Economic valuation for a selected set of products and services from Mediterranean forests

Aim of study: the paper estimates the economic value of a selected range of forest products and services, i.e. roundwood, nonwood forest products (NWFPs), and carbon-related services. Area of study: the research covers 21 Mediterranean countries, distinguished into four sub-regions. Material and methods: data have been gathered from official statistical sources (e.g. FAOSTAT), scientific literature and technical reports. Different estimation approaches based on market-price have been used for different products/services. Main results: the estimated value ranges between \u20ac10,512 and \u20ac11,158 million (M). Wood products represent more than 85% of the total value. Within them, industrial timber is the most relevant component (65%). Figures for NWFPs are likely to be underestimated because data are available only for some products and countries. When using alternative estimates for pine nuts, pine resin and cork, figures show a \u20ac36.8-572 M increase. In geographical terms, the economic value of Mediterranean forests is highly concentrated: North-West Mediterranean countries account for 70%, and nearly 90% is in just four countries (France, Spain, Turkey and Italy). Research highlights: enhancing the offer of Mediterranean forest products and increasing their role in the rural economy could help to reduce the costs of forest protection: a well-structured forest economy ensuring stable flows of incomes can provide a fundamental set of public non-market services and social values to both local people and the whole community. Understanding the true value of natural resources, then, is an essential step for promoting their protection and sustainable use

Exploring the multiple effects of the invasive alien robinia tree: a PhD project presentation

The poster explains the background, research questions and objectives and methods of the PhD study on black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) funded by the Linda Scattolin J:ROBIN project (2016-2019)

Does the effectiveness of forest protected areas differ conditionally on their type of governance?

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a community forest case-study in Tanzania

The current debate on climate change, especially with respect to the role of REDD projects and the push for the recognition of community (participatory) forest management as a carbon mitigation option represents a potential for communities to receive benefits from carbon sequestration. A recent study in Tanzania has estimated that communities can receive financial benefits in thousands of US$ annually from the sale of their forest carbon credits. This notwithstanding, such kind of projects is expected to generate potential social and environmental costs with related risks of conflicts if benefit sharing and governance issues are not well addressed. However the identification and prioritization as well as the economic value of all these benefits and costs are still premature. An understanding of what these expected benefits from sustainable forest management and REDD projects are, how their (total) value can be assessed and who are stakeholders and actors in participatory forest management (PFM) can be useful in formulating equitable benefit sharing mechanisms based on principles of “good governance” that could be adopted in REDD projects implementation. The paper deals with these topics on the basis of empirical results based on a participatory action research carried out in the Angai Village Land Forest Reserve, Liwale District, in Tanzania in 2010. Guidelines for formulating governance mechanisms to reduce risks of negative social consequences and enhance benefits from PFM_REDD projects for local forest resources management are proposed. Equitable benefit sharing in PFM is considered one of the most important issues for community cohesion and conflicts solving/managing and in the avoidance of leakage or other risks in REDD projects

Probabilistic network analysis of social-ecological relationships emerging from EU LIFE projects for nature and biodiversity: An application of ERGM models in the case study of the Veneto region (Italy)

Considering social-ecological relationships in managing protected areas is fundamental to ensuring effective biodiversity conservation and restoration governance. Network analysis offers valuable methods to disentangle intangible relations between and within the social and ecological systems. In this way, it could be possible to identify and integrate multiple social and ecological variables that inevitably affect collaborative environmental governance's effectiveness. Nevertheless, this research area is still nascent, with few methodologies and concrete applications reported in the scientific literature. With this study, we aim to propose a robust novel application of a network methodology to enrich the evaluation of the effectiveness of collaborative environmental governance for nature and biodiversity, which has been applied through the analysis of social-ecological relationships that emerged from EU-cofounded LIFE-NAT projects. Specifically, we focus on LIFE-NAT projects implemented in the Veneto Region (Italy) financed in the last programming period (2014–2020). Through formulating four research hypotheses to be tested through Exponential Random Graph Models, we analyze 13 LIFE-NAT projects involving 83 social actors and 29 Natura 2000 (N2000) sites composed of 57 protected habitats. Results show that LIFE-NAT projects in Veneto Region stimulate polycentric governance. Nevertheless, they still need to concretize a multi-actor and multilevel governance. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that selected LIFE-NAT projects implement activities in N2000 sites able to support ecological connectivity and synergies across marine, freshwater, and land habitats through the bridging role of forests, especially in estuarine and coastal areas

Sustainable energy governance in South Tyrol (Italy): A probabilistic bipartite network model

At the national scale, almost all of the European countries have already achieved energy transition targets, while at the regional and local scales, there is still some potential to further push sustainable energy transitions. Regions and localities have the support of political, social, and economic actors who make decisions for meeting existing social, environmental and economic needs recognising local specificities. These actors compose the sustainable energy governance that is fundamental to effectively plan and manage energy resources. In collaborative relationships, these actors share, save, and protect several kinds of resources, thereby making energy transitions deeper and more effective. This research aimed to analyse a part of the sustainable energy governance composed of formal relationships between municipalities and public utilities and to investigate the opportunities to further spread sustainable energy development within a region. In the case study from South Tyrol, Italy, the network structures and dynamics of this part of the actual energy governance were investigated through a social network analysis and Bayesian exponential random graph models. The findings confirmed that almost all of the collaborations are based on spatial closeness relations and that the current network structures do not permit a further spread of the sustainable energy governance. The methodological approach can be replicated in other case studies and the findings are relevant to support energy planning choices at regional and local scales

Collaborations in environmental initiatives for an effective gover- nance of social-ecological systems: What the scientific literature suggests.

Moving from the scientific literature on evaluation of environmental projects and programs, this study identifies how and under which conditions collaborations are considered effective for adaptive gover- nance of SES. The method adopted is a systematic literature review based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of 56 articles selected through specific queries on the SCOPUS database and published from 2004 to 2020. Results of the quantitative analysis underline conditions able to make collaborations effective for adaptive governance of SES: the importance of transdisciplinary research tackling both environmental and social sciences, the perceived urgency of stakeholders to tackle environmental challenges and consequently their inclusion in projects, the valorisation of different typologies of knowledge, and the adaptation to local culture and lifestyle. Results of the qualitative analysis provides specific recommendations for collaborations to be effective related to communication, equity, foresight, and respect, which need to be further strengthened. Multiplicity in visions and approaches should not be seen as a limit but as a resource able to stimulate creativity in social arrangements and environmental practices, making collaborations instrumental for the effectiveness of adaptive governance

Social and technological innovations in forestry

In Europe, when referring to innovation in forestry, the dominant discourses mostly deal with technological innovation based on large-scale industrial investments. \u201cInnovation is rather often used synonymously with technological innovation (Kubeczko et al. 2006:706)\u201d. This is supported by a biased (limited) interpretation of the bioeconomy strategies, where attention is almost completely focused on the development of bio-refineries, i.e. on innovative plants that produce power, heat, a potentially large set of bio-chemicals and in some cases pulp, normally using huge amounts of low-value biomasses from agriculture, forestry or organic wastes (McCormick and Kautto 2013; Scarlat et al. 2015; Fund et al. 2015.). Also in the case of plants producing just bio-energy, the needs for industrial scale economies are creating a demand for woody biomass that is frequently not covered by the potential local supply, so industrial plants are located in proximity to port facilities with a process of internationalization not only of the investment capital, but also wood procurement (P\ufclzl et al. 2017). Moreover, although it has been pointed out \u201cthe need to focus on innovation as a socially embedded phenomenon that should stretch across all economic sectors, [this concept] has mostly been applied in policy practice in high-tech fields, often with a technological focus or bias (EU 2003; von Tunzelmann and Acha 2003)\u201d, rather than in forestry (Rametsteiner and Weiss 2003: 692). Other emerging and innovative initiatives, like for example the creation of nature-based businesses connected with the establishment of payment schemes for ecosystem (or environmental) services (PES) that try to obtain value from the management of public goods such as water, biodiversity, human wellbeing and others (e.g., Wunder 2005), are often not considered as strategic choices to be invested in for the development of national economies , despite their potential in rural development (e.g., by means of income generation and employment creation) and innovation (Matilainen et al. 2011; Slee 2011; O\u2019Driscoll et al. 2017; Tyrv\ue4inen et al. 2017). However, it was recently stressed that a new policy narrative is needed, that \u201cshould emphasise a sustainable and socially inclusive forest-based bioeconomy (Winkel 2017:153)\u201d, i.e. a holistic bioeconomy [\u2026] \u201cthat recognises and mobilises the entire spectrum of ecosystem services that Europe\u2019s forests can provide for the benefit of Europe\u2019s societies (Winkel 2017)\u201d. This chapter introduces and discusses the various implications of social and technological innovation on the forestry sector, especially in Europe. In the first section, links are made with the various components of globalization. In the second, both approaches are presented based on commonly used definitions. In the third, the two approaches are illustrated by means of concrete examples, while their pros and cons (in terms of positive and negative consequences) are pointed out and briefly compared. In the fourth section, insights into how to integrate the two approaches are proposed and discussed in relation to the current perspectives of globalization and future development. The special role that information technologies can play in the two cases is highlighted

Criteri di buona governance in Leader: l\u2019autovalutazione dei Gruppi di Azione Locale

l principale obiettivo di questo lavoro \ue8 proporre una metodologia per l\u2019autovalutazione della capacit\ue0 del Gruppi di Azione Locale (Gal) di elaborare e gestire una strategia locale Leader secondo principi di buona governance. L\u2019approccio proposto, inizialmente sviluppato e testato in via preliminare con tecniche di ricerca qualitativa \ue8 qui perfezionato e integrato con il Common Assessment Framework (Caf), un modello di autovalutazione in uso da tempo presso organizzazioni pubbliche in Europa. Il sistema proposto si basa su un set d\u2019indicatori specifici di prestazione (performance) e di percezione del Gal capaci di correlare i principali elementi di una buona governance alle specificit\ue0 dell\u2019approccio Leader. Questo strumento pu\uf2 contribuire a migliorare l\u2019attivit\ue0 di monitoraggio gestionale e indirizzare criticamente le attivit\ue0 del Gal