Global Forest Governance Legal Concepts and Policy Trends

‘Sustainable forest management is an attractive concept used in this book to frame the interdisciplinary and contextualised study of the role of a range of actors, institutions and regimes which contribute to regulating the use of forests around the world. This book effectively provides an important, broad and legal critique and assessment of transnational trends, structures and innovations currently in use for managing forests. Its conclusions provide wide ranging insights that not only clarify and critique the potential of existing strategies and trends for legally managing forests but for governance of ecosystems more generally as humanity gradually acknowledges its role in the anthropocene.’
– Afshin Akhtarkhavari, Griffith University, Australia

Global Forest Governance provides insightful legal analysis of the current key policy trends and the challenges surrounding international forest regulation.

This book identifies the fundamental legal principles and the governance requirements of sustainable forest management. An analytical model for assessing forest regulation is created which identifies the doctrinal concepts that underpin forest regulation (justice, property, sovereignty and governance). It also highlights the dominant public international institutions involved in forest regulation (UNFF, UNFCCC and WB) which is followed by analysis of non-state international forest regulation (forest certification and ecosystem markets). The book concludes by making a number of practical recommendations for reform of global forest governance arrangements and suggested reforms for individual international forest institutions.

This book will appeal to academics, policymakers, international environmental researchers, government officials involved in forest regulation and environmental regulation more broadly.