Public and stakeholder involvement in forest governance: rethinking the forest advisory committee approach in Canada

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dc.contributor.authorAmani, Rojin
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeDavidson-Hunt, Iain (Natural Resources Institute)en_US
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeParkins, John (University of Alberta)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorSinclair, John
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-18T16:39:02Z
dc.date.available2022-05-18T16:39:02Z
dc.date.copyright2022-05-16
dc.date.issued2022-04-27
dc.date.submitted2022-05-01T18:02:00Zen_US
dc.date.submitted2022-05-10T14:15:24Zen_US
dc.date.submitted2022-05-16T12:51:47Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineNatural Resources Instituteen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Natural Resources Management (M.N.R.M.)en_US
dc.description.abstractThe Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) is a popular governance structure in Canada for governments and forest companies to engage public and local stakeholders in forest management planning. These committees are established across Canada to incorporate diverse values in forest decision-making and to move towards Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). However, scholars have noted many problems and shortcomings associated with these committees and suggest there is a need to rethink the FAC approach for involving the public and stakeholder organizations in forest management by developing a new framework for such involvement. This study 1) investigate how various jurisdictions involve the public and stakeholders in forest management decisions, 2) identify eading-edge approaches for involvement in forest management decisions that are more democratic and deliberative, 3) examine ways the public and stakeholders, other than forest product companies and government, can be incentivized to be involved in forest management, 4) develop a framework for involvement in forest decisions in Canada in the context of the tenure approach that captures the findings related to the above objectives and ensures greater public involvement. The study take a qualitative case study approach, utilizing document review, semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis. Overall, the data reveal that public participation in forest governance in Canada is weak, especially at the strategic and normative levels of decision making. The results of this study suggest a three-level framework for engagement, starting from forest policy and normative decisions at the top, to strategic decisions in the middle, and operational decisions in the bottom for public and stakeholder involvement. Each level requires its own distinct programs for participation, utilizing different tools and techniques, mainly because each needs to involve a different range of participants and address different forestry issues. However, overlap of some of the participants in each process and linkages between participation programs is also highly desirable. The FAC approach is not an appropriate model for getting public input to all these levels of decisions, but with some improvements it may still have utility in relation to forest management decisions that are operational in nature.en_US
dc.description.noteOctober 2022en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/36501
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectCanadaen_US
dc.subjectForest Advisory Committeeen_US
dc.subjectSustainable Forest Managementen_US
dc.subjectIndustrial Scale Forestryen_US
dc.subjectPublic Participation in Forest Managementen_US
dc.subjectForest Governanceen_US
dc.subjectIncentives Structuresen_US
dc.subjectMeaningful Public Participation in Forestryen_US
dc.subjectForestry Decision Making Levelsen_US
dc.titlePublic and stakeholder involvement in forest governance: rethinking the forest advisory committee approach in Canadaen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
project.funder.identifier435-0409-2017en_US
project.funder.nameSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canadaen_US
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