Stakeholders’ Interests and Roles in the Context of Secondary Norway Spruce Forest Conversion: Ukrainian Carpathians Case Study

Abstract

The investigation of stakeholders’ relationships is a crucial aspect of collective action in natural resource governance as well as in the participatory process to involve all groups of interests in sustainable forest management. The paper aims to identify and analyze stakeholders’ interests and roles in the context of secondary spruce forest conversion in the Ukrainian Carpathians. The research is structured into three steps: (1) identification of stakeholders; (2) questionnaire survey; and (3) data processing to analyze the stakeholders’ interests and roles. The results show that almost all stakeholders mainly receive benefits rather than losses from the secondary spruce forest conversion. Seven potential “supporters” and six potential “opponents” were identified. The most impacted groups of stakeholders are harvesting enterprises, wood processing enterprises, and users of forest products. The results obtained provide support for the forest policy formulation aimed at implementing sustainable forest management in the Ukrainian Carpathians context.