Did Lithuania manage to reach an agreement on its forests? The effect of National Agreement on Forests on conflicts in Lithuanian forest sector
Date | Start Page | End Page |
---|---|---|
2024 | 207 | 207 |
Forests have always played an important role in Lithuania's landscape, economy, and society. While the variety of ecosystem services provided by forests and the trade-offs between those services are preconditions for forest-related conflicts in many countries, in Lithuania, the conflicts are further exacerbated by the transition from a planned to a market economy, the "greening" of society's mindset, and the resurgence of private forest ownership.
The need to establish a consensus on the future direction of Lithuanian forest policy led to an unprecedented decision to organize a National Agreement on Forests (NAF): a co-creation process in which all stakeholder groups would be equally involved. The process lasted from mid-2021 to late 2022 and included both discussions and document preparation. The aim was to create a robust National Forest Programme for Lithuania and to resolve the most contentious conflicts.
In our research, we evaluated the NAF as a National Forest Programme using MCPFE criteria and assessed its effectiveness as a tool for resolving conflicts in Lithuania's forest sector. Although the NAF was recognized as an important step toward improving forest governance in Lithuania, thanks to its broad participation and representation of various interests, agreements were not reached on three out of the nine topics discussed. This may lead to a deepening of the respective conflicts in the future.