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Urban forests play a crucial role for the wellbeing of city dwellers, and their importance for people has been emphasised during the COVID-19 pandemic. This exploratory study analyses the visit patterns and visitor attitudes and perceptions in a peri-urban forest nearby Bonn, Germany, as well as the impact of the lockdown. Methodically, we combined automated visitor counting with a total of 345 on-site interviews. Respondents were asked a variety of open-ended and closed questions on various aspects of forest management and recreation. The results show that shortly after the inception of the lockdown the number of forest visitors doubled and the visit pattern changed markedly. In contrast, people's associations with the forest remained rather stable. The forest visitors interviewed primarily associated the forest with tranquillity, recreation and fresh air, and they were generally positive about forest management. However, these expectations conflicted with the sense of crowdedness experienced during the lockdown, when novel forest uses and new motivations for visiting the forest arose, with an important focus on the forest as a place for social interaction. These were mainly a result of the lockdown restrictions, rather than COVID-19 itself, which left people with more time and flexibility, and less alternative activities. The results highlight the importance of forest management in catering to people's expectations and ultimately for the role that forests play for people's wellbeing. This was the case before the lockdown but arguably even more so during, in response to a variety of needs resulting from unprecedented circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are subject to a huge variety of often competing socio-economic demands and environmental change. This paper assesses the related conflicts that occur along what we label to be a "Global Forest Environmental Frontier". Assessing 11 contributions to a special issue on the same topic, it summarizes the main contents of these papers and concludes with an assessment of major trends. The contributions to the special issue take both a regional and topic-related approach, assessing forest environmental conflicts on all five forested continents and investigating issues such as forest biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental justice and equity, development, and forest management and conservation discourses. Taken together, they provide an overview on the multiple facets of the Global Forest Environmental Frontier, but also identify some shared patterns and trajectories, which are outlined at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European forest policymaking is shaped by progressing European integration, yet with notable ideological divisions and diverging interests among countries. This paper focuses on the coalitional politics of key environmental forest issues: biodiversity conservation, timber legality, and climate protection policy. Combining the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the Shifting Coalition Theory, and informed by more than 186 key informant interviews and 73 policy documents spanning a 20-year timeframe, we examine the evolution of coalitional forest politics in Europe. We find that the basic line-up has remained stable: an environmental coalition supporting EU environmental forest policy integration and a forest sector coalition mostly opposing it. Still, strategic alliances across these coalitions have occurred for specific policy issues which have resulted in a gradual establishment of an EU environmental forest policy. We conclude with discussion of our findings and provide suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of wind farms in Germany has spurred debate over the environmental impacts of the Energiewende, the country's plan to transition towards renewable energy sources. We explore the opposition to two wind farms in central Germany by local civil initiatives through the Foucauldian notion of counter-conducts and a related Analytics of Protest Framework. Employing qualitative interpretive research methods, including 27 semi-structured interviews, we examine how wind energy critics navigate practices and rationalities governing wind energy expansion in the context of the Energiewende. We argue that critics challenge imperatives of environmental protection and energy justice, while at the same time reinforcing them. Struggles over wind energy manifest as struggles over the legitimate object of environmental protection and the ethical constitution of an environmental subject. Landscapes, both as habitats and scenery, gain impetus as the central tenet in the ecological agenda of wind energy opponents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires are increasingly recognized as a complex socioecological phenomenon, yet their linkages with territorial development are not clearly spelled out. This article seeks to unveil the sociopolitical and sociospatial ramifications of wildfires by framing them as a territorial issue, and understanding fire-prone territories as dynamic entities that emerge in essentially political processes, defined by socioecological relations that unfold across different spatial and temporal scales. Against this backdrop, building resilience is considered a territorially embedded and continuous process, driven by mechanisms operating “behind the flames.” By operationalizing this framework in the region of Valencia (Spain), it is shown how social innovation can help overcome lock-ins and enhance resilience. This research showcases the importance of building a trusting, collaborative culture across sectors and actors, and brings to the forefront the importance of considering rural–urban relationships for reducing territorial inequalities and building more resilient futures in Mediterranean, fire-prone territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretive discourse analysis commonly claims to address the interrelation between actors and discourses. However, the analytical focus of most approaches is on structures (discourses) while much less attention is paid to agency. This paper explicitly addresses discursive agency in two steps. First, we systematically review theoretical and analytical dimensions of agency in existing interpretive discourse analysis approaches. This review reveals a set of shared assumptions; most notably a concept of 'trialectic' agency emphasizing the constitution of agency among the individual, the (discursive) structures, and the researcher's interpretation. Second, we propose an analytical heuristic, the Discursive Agency Approach, which is developed on the basis of the review and own empirical data. The proposed approach consists of four elements: (1) policy discourses, (2) political institutions, (3) agents defined via a set of characteristics, and (4) strategic practices. This approach is meant to facilitate a systematic exploration of agency under a discourse perspective, tackling the question of how a policy is constituted through the agency ascribed to its proponents in dynamic discursive processes, and how actors acquire political relevance through discursive means. To enable this goal, we propose distinct research steps and associated methods that link the approach to existing means of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF) has developed into a comprehensive theoretical approach to the policymaking process. Empirical findings have however posed challenges in understanding important questions about the identification of advocacy coalitions, explanations for possibilities and sources of shifting coalitions, and the role of exploitive coalitions in policy change. We argue that the integration of relevant aspects of cultural theory (CT) into the ACF provides answers to these open questions. First, the theoretical synthesis of both perspectives suggests an exhaustive typology of four distinct sets of policy actors' cultural biases. In environmental and natural resource policy, they are mainly expressed by myths about physical nature that can be understood as deep core beliefs that entail, guide, and constrain policy core beliefs in the policy subsystem. Second, linking ACF and CT allows for the conceptualization of cognitive mechanisms for strategic cross-cultural alliances between different advocacy coalitions, which are enabled through specific shared or complementary core beliefs. Third, the synthesis provides an explanation for exploitive coalitions who take advantage of issues triggered by external and internal disruptive events through strategic issue (re-)framing and shifting coalitions that, together with ideological congruence related to veto and institutional players, make major policy change possible. To illustrate our theoretical arguments, we present a long-term analysis of policy change through forest sector reforms and forest certification in Germany and Bulgaria. We conclude by underlining the promising explanatory power of combining ACF and CT as a basis for developing a more comprehensive cognitive theory of policymaking in the context of environmental and natural resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy integration is a challenging process that involves the renegotiation of interests, beliefs, and sectoral policy boundaries. In this paper we introduce European forest policy as an arena that is characterized by a policy (dis)integration paradox. On the one hand, the need for better coordination and integration of fragmented policies is frequently expressed. On the other hand, little has been achieved in terms of policy integration despite several initiatives. Drawing on fifty semistructured interviews with European forest policy makers and participatory observation, we assess, firstly, effects of and reasons for the disintegration paradox and, secondly, the strategic importance of distinct forest policy initiatives that are legitimized by the need for better policy integration. Our data demonstrate that the forest policy (dis)integration paradox can be explained by different factors, with economic interests and sectoral and institutional competition being most important. Under such circumstances, policy integration serves as frequently used rhetoric to consolidate sectoral interests; however, substance-wise, it is simply not happening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is an influential theoretical framework for the analysis of policymaking processes, in particular agenda setting. It has inspired numerous empirical applications, which result in substantially different interpretations, for instance, of what exactly the 'streams' encompass, how policy entrepreneurship is practiced, and how the coupling of distinct streams works. This article undertakes a systematic assessment of the MSF's core elements from the perspective of policy discourse analysis. Through an understanding of 'streams' as discursive patterns, and policy discourses as (historical) couplings of the streams, a new and theoretically consistent interpretation of streams and likely connections between them is offered. One specific focus is on Kingdon's concept of policy entrepreneurship and how it relates to ideas of agency in discourse analysis. Drawing on the recently proposed Discursive Agency Approach, we discuss how concepts such as subject positions in discourses, agent subjectivization via the dialectic interplay of individual characteristics and structural forces, and discursive practices and strategies relate to and can possibly complement the MSF. Particular emphasis is given to the metaphors the MSF provides. In conclusion, the article demonstrates that a post-positivist perspective holds great potential for enriching the MSF theoretically and strengthening it analytically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the German debate on the issue of the common welfare designation of public forests. In the first part, drawing on two case studies, the political discourse on the issue is introduced. Two major competing 'story lines' can be made out that are both based on a long tradition of controversially discussed concepts of regulatory forest policy. While they both emphasise that common welfare services in forestry run counter to profit orientation, they fundamentally differ with regard to the consequences for forest policy, e.g., considering the degree of state intervention. Afterwards, an overview on the scientific debate on common welfare in the German context is given, and different concepts of common welfare determination are distinguished. Existing approaches of common welfare determination in German forest policy are related to these concepts and discussed. It is argued that the common welfare designation of the public forest is only insufficiently implemented by the actual governance arrangements. Based on this consideration, eventually, the implementation of a procedural concept of common welfare operationalisation in Germany's public forests at the local level is proposed. While such a concept will not solve all complex problems related to the determination of common welfare in public forestry, it would notably contribute to a more operational definition of common welfare in public forestry and a more informed public debate on the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural forest expansion (NFE), that is, the establishment of secondary forest on non-forested land through natural succession, has substantially contributed to the widespread expansion of forests in Europe over the last few decades. So far, EU policies have largely neglected the potential of NFE for meeting policy objectives on restoration. Synthesising recent interdisciplinary research, this paper assesses the challenges and opportunities of NFE in view of contributing to European forest and ecosystem restoration. Specifically, we discuss the potential for supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and forestry and economic use, summarize the current knowledge about societal perceptions and the policymaking on NFE, and make policy recommendations to better use the potential of NFE. We conclude that NFE has the potential to contribute to the European restoration policy agenda if local contexts and possible trade-offs are properly considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGT) adopted in 2003 includes bilateral trade agreements known as Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) signed between the EU and timber-supplying countries. The EU has invested more than 1.5 billion euros in VPAs; however, only one of the seven concerned countries has managed to complete all the necessary requirements to expire FLEGT licences. Since there is no research that comprehensively integrates the scientific evidence regarding the effects of this policy, this study systematically reviews all empirical scientific studies on the effects of VPAs. We found that almost all relevant studies are case reports that use qualitative data and focus on only one country at a time, mainly Ghana, Cameroon, or Indonesia. The evidence suggests that while VPAs have contributed to the establishment of governance structures, tools, and procedures they have not been able to solve social problems (i.e., inequality and injustice) and have potentially harmed the economies of EU timber suppliers. Evidence on the effects of VPAs on illegal logging and trade and the environment remains limited. Thus, future research should focus on more countries; use a greater range of methods, including comparative experimental designs; explore possible intended effects on under-researched categories; and systematically investigate unintended effects on other categories within and outside the forestry sector. • We reviewed the literature on the effects of FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements. • These are bilateral trade agreements between the EU and timber-supplying countries. • Most studies are case reports using qualitative data, focusing on one country at a time. • VPAs can contribute to the establishment of governance structures tools, and procedures. • VPAs are not able to solve social problems and can even harm the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of societies, including spiritual development, is closely connected to forests. The larger interrelations among changing societies, transforming forest landscapes, and evolving spiritual values related to forests have yet to be extensively considered. Addressing this research gap is important to avoid the neglect of spiritual values in forest policy and management. Our exploratory study investigates spiritual values of forests from European and Asian perspectives, assessing 13 countries. Based on expert knowledge from 18 interdisciplinary experts, we first define forest spiritual values (forest spirituality). We then elaborate on the idea that forest spirituality evolves as societies and landscapes change, and propose a transition hypothesis for forest spirituality. We identify indicators and drivers and portray four stages of such a transition using country-specific examples. We find that during a first stage ("nature is powerful"), forest spirituality is omnipresent through the abundance of sacred natural sites and practices of people who often directly depend on forests for their livelihoods. An alternative form of spirituality is observed in the second stage ("taming of nature"). Connected to increasing transformation of forest landscapes and intensifying land-use practices, "modern" religions guide human-nature interrelations. In a third stage ("rational management of nature"), forest spirituality is overshadowed by planned rational forest management transforming forests into commodities for the economy, often focusing on provisioning ecosystem services. During a fourth stage ("reconnecting with nature"), a revival of forest spirituality (re-spiritualization) can be observed due to factors such as urbanization and individualizing spirituality. Our core contribution is in showing the connections among changing forest perceptions, changing land-use governance and practices, and changing forest spirituality. Increasing the understanding of this relationship holds promise for supporting forest policy-making and management in addressing trade-offs between spiritual values and other aspects of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore how European and domestic factors have shaped environmental governance in the case of European Union biodiversity policy implementation in Bulgaria and Croatia. We argue that a ‘symbolic transformation’ of environmental governance in Bulgaria and Croatia has occurred, as the interplay between Europeanization and domestic politics has led to differential empowerment of state and non-state actors resulting in ineffective environmental governance. While proenvironment non-state groups (environmental non-governmental organizations, scientists) and European Union institutions were empowered in the phase of formal compliance, economic interest groups have held sway over the phase of practical (non-)compliance. At the same time, state actors have responded rationally to retain their power by adapting to opposing forces from above and below. We conclude by discussing the ‘symbolic transformation’ of environmental governance shifting between ‘command-and-control’ and ‘non-hierarchical’ coordination with regards to the transformative power of Europe in light of Europeanization research in old and new European Union member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem services framework has become one of the most important paradigms in forest planning and management as a way to link the multiple provisioning, regulating, and cultural services derived from ecosystems and their benefits to human wellbeing. Recently, there have been multiple efforts in emphasizing the importance of cultural ecosystem services (CES). However, the consideration of CES in management models remains a challenge. In the current context of increased demand for the joint supply of multiple ecosystem services, we aim to evaluate which CES are currently promoted by European landowners, what their the future could be, and which factors support or hinder these processes. Our findings are based on a survey of 1182 forest landowners from 25 European countries. By using a mixed-method approach that combines descriptive, ordination, and cluster analysis with qualitative data, our results reveal that CES are currently of high relevance in European forests and forest owners and managers have a generally positive attitude toward further promotion of CES through forest management. There is a high degree of synergy between CES, which suggests that many of them could be jointly promoted. Our analysis further identifies the existence of four differentiated types of forest owners based on their attitudes and management in relation to CES. These groups also differ in regard to the challenges and barriers they perceive in relation to forest CES. These diverse perspectives among Europe's landowners suggest the need for different strategies that satisfy the diverse context-related social-ecological needs required to further promote CES in European forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retention forestry implies that biological legacies like dead and living trees are deliberately selected and retained beyond harvesting cycles to benefit biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This model has been applied for several decades in even-aged, clearcutting (CC) systems but less so in uneven-aged, continuous-cover forestry (CCF). We provide an overview of retention in CCF in temperate regions of Europe, currently largely focused on habitat trees and dead wood. The relevance of current meta-analyses and many other studies on retention in CC is limited since they emphasize larger patches in open surroundings. Therefore, we reflect here on the ecological foundations and socio-economic frameworks of retention approaches in CCF, and highlight several areas with development potential for the future. Conclusions from this perspective paper, based on both research and current practice on several continents, although highlighting Europe, are also relevant to other temperate regions of the world using continuous-cover forest management approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against a background of intensifying climate-induced disturbances, the need to enhance the resilience of forests and forest management is gaining urgency. In forest management, multiple trade-offs exist between different demands as well as across and within temporal and spatial scales. However, methods to assess resilience that consider these trade-offs are presently lacking. Here we propose a hierarchical framework of principles, criteria, and indicators to assess the resilience of a social-ecological system by focusing on the mechanisms behind resilience. This hierarchical framework balances trade-offs between mechanisms, different parts of the social-ecological system, ecosystem services, and spatial as well as temporal scales. The framework was developed to be used in a participatory manner in forest management planning. It accounts for the major parts of the forest-related social-ecological system and considers the multiple trade-offs involved. We demonstrate the utility of the framework by applying it to a landscape dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Central Europe, managed for three different management goals. The framework highlights how forest resilience varies with the pursued management goals and related management strategies. The framework is flexible and can be applied to various forest management contexts as part of a participatory process with stakeholders. It thus is an important step towards operationalizing social-ecological resilience in forest management systems. • Forest management goals determine the desired level of resilience. • Participatory stakeholder engagement is crucial in operational resilience assessment. • Our resilience framework allows projecting future scenarios for indicator analysis. • Multiple trade-offs should be balanced to achieve resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrative forest management approaches, aiming to combine the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services in the same forest area, are popular forest management concepts in Europe. Their understanding and application varies, however, across the continent. This paper looks at one dimension of integrative forest management approaches in particular – the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management; focusing on its understanding and application, as well as current and future social, technological, ecological, economic and political factors enabling or hampering this integration. Drawing on 42 qualitative in-depth interviews with national experts and forest practitioners, our study provides insights into the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management systems aimed at wood production and the provision of other forest ecosystem services under various conditions. Across the investigated countries, the main factors perceived to facilitate this integration are the personal motivations and knowledge of forest managers and their long-term economic thinking related to the resilience of the forest in the face of climate and societal change. In turn, the main factors perceived as hampering the integration are current wood-market demands, and a lack of (public) financial incentives. Public pressure is also perceived as an important influencing factor, which can both impede or support integration. Other ambiguous factors include societal knowledge and related knowledge gaps, relationships between local stakeholders, and the legal framework in which forest management operates. The study concludes with suggestions of how to enhance the uptake of the integration of nature conservation measures into forest management in Europe. • Societal pressure seen as an important driver for integrative approaches. • Societal pressure perceived to impact both uptake and method of conservation measures. • Intrinsic motivation of foresters and economic sustainability support measure uptake. • The wood market and lack of public finances hamper the integration of nature conservation. • Tension between uptake of integrative approaches and economic goals reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study presents a global analysis of forest cover and forest protection. An updated Global Forest Map (using MODIS2005) provided a current assessment of forest cover within 20 natural forest types. This map was overlaid onto WWF realms and ecoregions to gain additional biogeographic information on forest distribution. Using the 2008 World Database on Protected Areas, percentage forest cover protection was calculated globally, within forest types, realms and ecoregions, and within selected areas of global conservation importance. At the 10% tree cover threshold, global forest cover was 39millionkm2. Of this, 7.7% fell within protected areas under IUCN management categories I–IV. With the inclusion of IUCN categories V and VI, the level of global forest protection increased to 13.5%. Percentage forest protection (IUCN I–IV) varied greatly between realms from 5.5% (Palearctic) to 13.4% (Australasia), and for forest types from 3.2% (temperate freshwater swamp forest) to 28% (temperate broadleaf evergreen forest). Median protection of forest cover in 670 ecoregions (forest above a specified threshold) was 5.9% (IUCN I–IV); at IUCN I–VI, 46% of the ecoregions had less than 10% forest protection. Considering their biodiversity importance, forest protection within global priority areas was insufficient, e.g., median protection of 8.4% in biodiversity hotspots (IUCN I–IV). Results have policy relevance in terms of the target of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), reconfirmed in 2008, to effectively conserve “at least 10% of each of the world’s forest types”. Regular updates of these analyses would allow progress towards achieving that target to be monitored. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]