Gorriz-Mifsud Elena, Secco Laura, Da Re Riccardo, Pisani Elena, Bonet José Antonio
University of Lleida-Agrotecnio Center, Avda Alcalde Rovira Roure, 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain; University of Padova, TESAF Department, Agripolis, Viale dell'Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy; Forest Sciences Center of Catalonia (CTFC) - Forest Economics Department, St. Pau Art Nouveau Site - St. Leopold pavilion, St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain; European Forest Institute - Mediterranean regional office (EFIMED), St. Pau Art Nouveau Site - St. Leopold pavilion, St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain.
University of Padova, TESAF Department, Agripolis, Viale dell'Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
J Environ Manage. 2017 Mar 1;188:364-378. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.11.072. Epub 2016 Dec 20.
In diffuse forest uses, like non-timber forest products' harvesting, the behavioural alignment of pickers is crucial for avoiding a "tragedy of the commons". Moreover, the introduction of policy tools such as a harvest permit system may help in keeping the activity under control. Besides the official enforcement, pickers' engagement may also derive from the perceived legitimate decision of forest managers and the community pressure to behave according to the shared values. Framed within the social capital theory, this paper examines three types of relations of rural communities in a protected area in Catalonia (Spain) where a system of mushroom picking permits was recently introduced. Through social network analysis, we explore structural changes in relations within the policy network across the policy conception, design and implementation phases. We then test whether social links of the pickers' community relate to influential members of the policy network. Lastly, we assess whether pickers' bonding and bridging structures affect the rate of permit uptake. Our results show that the high degree of acceptance could be explained by an adequate consideration of pickers' preferences within the decision-making group: local pickers show proximity to members of the policy network with medium-high influence during the three policy phases. The policy network also evolves, with some members emerging as key actors during certain phases. Significant differences are found in pickers' relations among and across the involved municipalities following an urban-rural gradient. A preliminary relation is found between social structures and differential pickers' engagement. These results illustrate a case of positive social capital backing policy design and, probably, also implementation. This calls for a meticulous design of forest policy networks with respect to communities of affected forest users.
在森林的分散利用中，比如非木材林产品的采摘，采摘者的行为一致性对于避免“公地悲剧”至关重要。此外，引入诸如采伐许可制度等政策工具可能有助于控制这一活动。除了官方执法外，采摘者的参与也可能源于对森林管理者合理决策的认知以及社区按照共同价值观施加的压力。本文以社会资本理论为框架，研究了西班牙加泰罗尼亚一个保护区内农村社区的三种关系类型，该保护区最近引入了蘑菇采摘许可制度。通过社会网络分析，我们探讨了政策网络在政策构想、设计和实施阶段关系的结构变化。然后，我们测试采摘者社区的社会联系是否与政策网络中有影响力的成员相关。最后，我们评估采摘者的联系结构和桥接结构是否会影响许可证的获取率。我们的结果表明，高度的接受度可以通过决策群体对采摘者偏好的充分考虑来解释：在三个政策阶段，当地采摘者与具有中高影响力的政策网络成员关系密切。政策网络也在演变，一些成员在某些阶段成为关键行为者。沿着城乡梯度，在所涉及的市镇之间以及市镇内部，采摘者的关系存在显著差异。在社会结构和采摘者不同的参与度之间发现了初步联系。这些结果说明了一个积极的社会资本支持政策设计以及可能还有政策实施的案例。这就要求在设计森林政策网络时，要精心考虑受影响的森林使用者群体。
