Understanding public participation in forest planning: A review

Based on a wide range of publications, this paper proposes a review of public participation processes in natural resource management with specific reference to forest planning. The paper proposes an analytical framework which can be used as an analytical tool as well as a series of principles of good practice. Public participation can be considered by the involved stakeholders as an end in itself or as a means to an end and the lack of definition and transparency of chosen processes and objectives often leads to more problems. Power is central to participatory forestry and to engage in a participatory process will ultimately change relationship patterns and affect power relationships. Issues of stakeholders' representativity, transparency of the processes and resource availability to facilitate the process are often underestimated. New models of participatory forestry management are emerging from various countries and the need for considering different approaches in forestry and roles of the forester are becoming more evident.