Exploring the Role of Public–Private Partnerships in Forest Protection

Ulrika Widman
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Ulrika Widman: Department of Political Science, Umeå University, Umeå 901 87, Sweden

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: In 2010, the Swedish government established the Komet program—a pilot forest protection project that was initially implemented in five land areas. The Komet program was intended to complement existing formal protection measures by establishing partnerships with forest owners and industries to encourage these actors to take a greater interest in contributing to forest conservation efforts and Nature Conservation Agreements. Despite mixed results, the government subsequently chose to implement these partnerships nationwide, thereby institutionalizing the Komet program and making it into a regular component of forest management policy. This study examines how the program developed and became institutionalized. The theoretical role of public–private partnerships and their capacity to deliver collective goods are discussed. The empirical material primarily consists of interviews with key stakeholders from the pilot period and the present reference group. The results highlight the need to carefully consider past collaborative experiences together with existing motives relating to the role of partnerships in forest protection in order to achieve successful institutionalization. This will increase the government’s capacity to create the conditions for institutionalization and may facilitate the development of external interactions in partnerships, leading to the incorporation of various protection arrangements.

Keywords: public–private partnerships; forest protection; collaboration; institutionalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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