Public perception on forestry issues in the Region of Valencia
Abstract
Are the policies designed by decision-makers differing from society’s wishes and preferences? The present paperanalyzes the divergences between forest policy and public opinion in the Region of Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana)in Eastern Spain. The data is based on an extensive telephone survey of the general public on their perception of forestryissues. The issues studied include attitudes regarding forest fires, silvicultural treatments, the externalities producedby forest owners, and the state forest service’s role related to these issues. In total, the answers of 823 respondentswere analyzed using classification trees. The results of the analysis showed a large divergence between the desires,preferences and priorities of society, on the one hand, and the policies implemented by the regional government, onthe other. The study concludes that communication strategies concerning sustainable forest management need to befurther developed by the responsible authorities, with the input of the research community.
Downloads
References
Alcanda P, Fabra M. 2003. From theory to practice in public participation in Regional Forest Programmes, and the future challenges for its implementation. In: Forests and society. (Dominguez G, et al. eds). Centre Tecnologic Forestal de Catalunya. Spain. pp. 89-108.
Beder S. 2002. Global spin: the corporate assault on environmentalism. Chelsea Green Publishing Company. USA. 288 pp.
Bengston D. 2000. Environmental values related to fish and wildlife lands. In: Human dimensions of natural resource management: emerging issues and practical applications. (Fulton, et al. eds). University of Minnesota. USA. 132 pp.
Bengston, D. 1994. Changing forest values and ecosystem management. Society and Natural Resources 7, 515-533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08941929409380885
Birot, Y. 2009 (eds). Living with wildfires: what science can tell us. EFI Discussion paper 15.
Bridge, SRJ. Miyanishi, K. Johnson, EA. 2005. A critical evaluation of ?re suppression in the Boreal Forest of Ontario. For Sci 51(1), 41-50.
Buijs, A. 2009. Public natures. Social representations of natures and local practices. Doctoral thesis. Wageningen University.
Carr, DS. 1995. Human dimensions in ecosystem management: A USDA Forest Service perspective. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-156.
Carrow, R. 1999 Canada’s model forest program: challenges for phase II, Forest. Chron. 75, 73-79.
Conselleria de Medi Ambient, 2009. La nueva política de paisaje de la Comunitat Valenciana. Spain. 146 pp. [In Spanish].
Corbett J, 2006. Communicating Nature. How we create and understand environmental messages, Island Press, London, UK. 368 pp.
Cortner HJ, Moote MA, 1994. Trends and issues in land and water resources management: setting the agenda for change. Environmental Management 18 2, pp. 167-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02393759
European Commission. 2002. Perception of the wood-based industries, Qualitative study, Enterprise publications. Brussels. 71 pp.
European Commission. 2009. “Shaping forest communication in the European Union: public perceptions of forests and forestry”, European Commission - DG Agriculture and Rural Development. Brussels. 157 pp.
European Commission. 2010. Public opinion [online]. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm [22 Dec 2010].
Fabra, M. 2011. Communication on forestry issues in Spain: a mass media analysis. (Submitted manuscript).
FAO, 2006. Understanding national forest programmes: The national forest programme facility, FAO, Rome. 76 pp.
Finnish Forest Association. 2010. [online] Forests and timber opinion survey. Available at http://www.smy.fi/smy/SMYeng. nsf [10 Oct 2010].
Fiorino DJ, 1990. Citizen participation and environmental risk: A survey of institutional mechanisms. Science, Technology, & Human Values 15 (2), 226-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/016224399001500204
Forest-based Sector Technology Platform, 2006. A strategic research agenda for innovation, competitiveness and quality of life, European Commission, Brussels. 28 pp.
Forest Based Sector Technology Platform, 2009. A Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda 2010-2020. European Forest Institute. 32 pp.
Generalitat Valenciana, 1993. Forest Law 3/93 of Valencia Region, Conselleria de Medi Ambient. Valencia, Spain. [In Spanish].
Generalitat Valenciana, 2004. Plan General de Ordenación Forestal. Conselleria de Medi Ambient. Spain. 313 pp.
Generalitat Valenciana, 2009. Pressupostos 2010, Conselleria de Economia i Hisenda [online]. Available at: http://portales.gva.es/c_economia/web/presupuestos/2009/ [22 Jul 2011] [In Catalan].
Generalitat Valenciana, 2011a. Diseño del estudio cuantitativo de la fase 1 del plan de participación pública. [online] Available at: http://www.cma.gva.es/contenidoHtmlArea/contenido/60983/cas/PTPP2010_32.pdf [22 Jul 2011] [In Spanish].
Generalitat Valenciana, 2011b. Encuesta de percepción de conjunto de la ciudadanía sobre el sector forestal de la Comunidad Valenciana. [online] Available at: http://www.cma.gva.es/contenidoHtmlArea/contenido/60983/cas/ATT00001.pdf [22 Jul 2011] [In Spanish].
Generalitat Valenciana, 2011 c. Plan de Acción Territorial Forestal de la Comunitat Valenciana. Conselleria de Infraestructuras, Territorio y Medio Ambiente. Available at http://www.cma.gva.es/web/indice.aspx?nodo = 60881&idioma = C [22 Jul 2011] [In Spanish].
Germain RH, Floyd DW, Stehman SV. 2001. Public perceptions of the USDA Forest Service public participation process, Forest Policy and Economics, 3 (3-4): 113-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1389-9341(01)00065-X
Glück, P. Oesten, G. Schanz H. Volz, K-R., 1999. Formulation and implementation of national forest programmes, Theoretical aspects, EFI Proceedings nº 30. Finland. 296 pp.
Gobierno de Cantabria, 2005. Plan Forestal de Cantabria. Consejería de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca. Santander. 214 pp. [In Spanish].
Gobierno de España, 2003. Ley 43/2003, de 21 de noviembre, de Montes. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente. Madrid. [In Spanish]. Gobierno de Navarra, 1998. Plan Forestal de Navarra. Consejería de Medio Ambiente. Pamplona. 156 pp. [In Spanish].
González JR, Pukkala T. 2007. Characterization of forest ?res in Catalonia (north-east Spain). Eur J Forest Res 126, 421-429
INE, 2011. National Statistics Institute of Spain [on line]. Available at http://www.ine.es/en/welcome_en.htm [22 Jul 2011] [In Spanish].
Karanth KK, Kramer RA, Qian SS, Christensen NL. 2008 Examining conservation attitudes, perspectives, and challenges in India. Biological Conservation, 141 (9) 2357- 2367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.027
Krott M. 2005. Forest policy analysis. Springer. 323 pp.
Larson A, Soto F. 2008. Decentralization of natural resource governance regimes. Annual review of environment and resources. Vol. 33. 213-239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.environ.33.020607.095522
Merlo M, Croitoru. (eds.), 2005. Valuing Mediterranean forests: towards total economic value. CABI Publishing. UK. 448 pp.
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, 2002. Plan Forestal Español, Gobierno de España. Madrid. 139 pp. [In Spanish].
Pérez Turrado, M. 1991. Problemática de la propiedad forestal privada. Revistta de Estudios Agro-Sociales, 158: 133-147. [In Spanish].
PROFOR, 2001. Hacia una nueva Administración Forestal y de conservación de la Naturaleza. 1 Congreso PROFOR. St. Boi de Llobregat. 143 pp. [Rametsteiner E, Kraxner F. 2003. European and their forests, Ministerial conference on the protection of forests in Europe. Vienna, Austria. 56 pp. Rametsteiner E, Oberwimmer R, Gschwandtl I. 2007. Europeans and wood: what do Europeans think about wood and its uses? Ministerial conference on the protection of forests in Europe. Warsaw, Poland. 68 pp.
Reid W, 2005. Living beyond our means: natural assets and human well-being. Millenium ecosystem assessment. United Nations. 28 pp.
Renn O, Webler T, Rakel H, Dienel P, Johnson B. 1993. Public participation in decision making: A three-step procedure. Policy Sciences 26 (3): 189-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00999716
Rowe G, Frewer LJ. 2000. Public Participation Methods: A framework for evaluation. Science, Technology and Human Values, 25(1), 3-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/016224390002500101
Saastamoinen, O. 2005. Multiple ethics for multidimensional sustainability in forestry? In: Erkkilä A, Heinonen RE, Oesten G, Pelkonen P, Saastamoinen O (eds). European forests and beyond: an ethical discourse. Silva Carelica 49. University of Joensuu, Finland. Sanesi G, Gallies C, Kasperifus HD. 2011. Urban forests and their ecosystem services in relation to human health. In: Nilsson K, Sangster M, Gallis C, Hartig T, de Vries S, Seeland K, Schipperijn J (eds). Forests, Trees and Human Health. Springer. pp. 23-40.
Schmithüsen F, Kazemi Y, Seeland K. 1998. Actitudes de la población ante el bosque y sus prestaciones sociales, Agricultura y Sociedad, pp 85. [In Spanish].
Sheppard SRJ, Achiam CM. 2004. Public participation in forest decision making, In: Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences, Academic Press/Elsevier, Oxford, UK. pp 1173- 1182.
Suchman, M. 1995. Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review. 20(3): 571-610.
Velez, R. 2000. La defensa contra incendios forestales. Fundamentos y experiencias. Mc Graw Hill.
Westoby, J. 1989. Introduction to world forestry. Basil Blackwell Ltd. Oxford.
Wunder, S. 2005. Payments for environmental services: some nuts and bolts. CIFOR Occasional paper nº 42. 32 pp.
Xunta de Galicia, 1992. Plan Forestal de Galicia. Conselleria de Agricultura, Ganaderia e Montes. A Coruña. 245 pp.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.
