1. Who are the Stakeholders?
The long-term character of forestry in regard to wood production and the multitude of forest benefits related to social demands and the characteristics of forests as ecosystem are the major reasons for state concern on forests. These and some other aspects including the access and availability of forests for people and nature conservation issues are the reasons why many groups of people, organisations, institutions and industries are interested in the utilization, management and protection of forests. They are willing to emphasize their specific interests in different ways, defending their position or advancing it by any means available to them. In short, they are interested in participating in the formulation and implementation that follow the successes of forest policies. The list of stakeholders is long and can be grouped (for example) in the following way:
A) Stakeholders involved with the forests by ownership
| A1 Private (non-industrial) forest owners (NIPFs) and their association.
|
| Private forest owners make up a large group but are heterogeneous with regards to the scale of forest ownership. The size of forest ownership largely determines the combined economic and social importance of the forest to the owner.
Very small-forest owners (under 1 or up to 3 (or 5) hectares)
Usually private forest owners are seen as a uniform stakeholder group. Their overall interest in forest policy and priorities within different policy measures may vary to some extent (the larger the ownership, the greater the interests in forest policy). Generally, forest owners in one country fall under one association.
|
| A2 Private industrial forest owners
|
| Forest industries owning forests
Other industrial or business companies
Forest industries get their wood supply partly from their own forests and are dependent on wood to be bought in from other forest owners. They are strong supporters of forest policy.
|
| A3 Public forest owners
|
| State forests, administered by state forest organisation
Municipality, city and communal forests
State forests, by law, are usually committed to the promotion of public welfare and interests, where municipal forests often are related to recreational or "protection" needs. Depending on the organizational structure, state forest administration can be part of or closely related to general forest administration.
|
| A4 Other forest owners
|
| Church, co-operative, and indigenous people owned forests
|
B) Forest industries and their associations
| B1 Woodworking industries
B2 Pulp and paper industries B3 Business customers of forest industries |
| Not all forest industries own forests. The forest industry as a whole has significant interests to watch over in forests (including environmental and energy policies).
|
C) Stakeholders involved with forests on the basis of a working or contractual relationship
| C1 Forest workers and forest industry workers and their organisations
C2 Civil servants and employees and their organisations C3 Contractors in logging, transportation and other forest works |
| The dependence on wages, salaries or contracts makes these stakeholders highly interested in job and income security. These interests also include general development interests and all interests are usually articulated by their organisations.
|
D) Specific-interest associations
| D1 Environmental organizations
D2 Hunting organizations D3 Recreation and tourism organizations D4 Other specific-interest organizations (i.e.,non-wood forest products, grazing, ethnic groups etc..) |
| During the last 20 - 30 years (in almost all countries) the influence of non-governmental environmental organizations on forest policies has steadily grown. Some of these organizations are truly international and capable of using media as a means of promoting their cause.
|
E) General interest and state organizations
| E1 Political parties
E2 General state administration E3 Forest administration E4 Research institutes and universities E5 Financial organizations E6 Media E7 Informal citizen groups E7 General population |