Stakeholder analysis in sustainable forest management: An application in the Yavoriv region (Ukraine)

In Ukraine, the timber volume harvested from sanitary cuttings is increasing, while the state of national forests is decreasing. These trends have focused the attention of public authorities and increased public debate on the role of forests for society. A forest policy reform process needs to build on a sound understanding of the relevant stakeholders, their mutual relationships and interests in the forestry sector. In this paper, a stakeholder analysis based on a network theoretical approach was implemented in a case study in Ukraine (Yavoriv region) to support the forest policy reform process. The study is based on experts' opinions and was structured in three stages: identification of the experts; questionnaire survey and identification of local stakeholders; classification of stakeholders. The results identified 15 stakeholders thus distributed: (1) eight stakeholders belong to the ecological coalition and seven to the economic coalition; (2) three are key stakeholders, four primary stakeholders, and eight secondary stakeholders. The proposed method of stakeholder analysis is aimed to balance the number of stakeholders from each coalition to include all interests at stake in the participatory process. The stakeholder analysis marks the first step in the implementation of sustainable forest management in the Yavoriv region and could serve as a model for the other Ukrainian regions.

Automated summary

In Ukraine, the timber volume harvested from sanitary cuttings is increasing while the state of national forests is decreasing, leading to increased attention on the role of forests in society. A stakeholder analysis using a network theoretical approach was conducted in the Yavoriv region to support forest policy reform, with results identifying 15 stakeholders distributed between ecological and economic coalitions. The proposed method aims to balance stakeholder representation and could serve as a model for sustainable forest management in other Ukrainian regions.