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Dealing with forest resources management, “participation”
emerged as a central theme. There has, for some time, been a
growing recognition within the government and society at
large that the future of sustainable forest management in
Turkey depends on more effective participation of multiple
stakeholders. Along with growing appreciation of the
potential benefits, these has become more systematic in
understanding the factors that currently inhibit wider and
more effective use of participatory techniques in Turkey.
Over the last decade, there has been a succession of studies
pointing to the conclusion that current forest management
practices, entrenched institutional arrangements and
attitudes, and poorly adapted laws are major constraints on
participatory forest management. With specific reference to
the legal framework, there is a growing consensus that
Turkish legislation falls short of
these in most developed countries.
This acts as a constraint on participation because of its
command and control approach, in which most decisions are
made by the state. The principle of rule of law is to ensure
compliance and penalise non-compliance with those decisions
and the law does not fully reflect current social, economic
and environmental realities. The purpose of this study is to
focus on the strengths and weaknesses of Turkey’s forest law
per se, by highlighting some international lessons and
practices that might be useful to Turkey as it considers
what future steps should be taken in improving the legal
framework for participation in forest management. As a
result, this study concluded that public participation
requires a well established legal system, public sensitivity
and local knowledge for a better participatory forest
management.
Key
words:
Public participation, forests, management, planning,
legislation. |
