The following attempts to lay out some major issues and opportunities facing forestry extension and related private forestry issues in the countries of CEE. These issues and opportunities do not constitute a private forestry or extension programme for any country. They are however issues that appear to be common to the development extension systems to face the changing patterns of forest ownership and socio-economic conditions.
The issue of scale. The size of some privatized holdings appear so small that owners may be reluctant to invest in their management or in improving their productivity. Thus the expected increases in investment as a result of privatization may not meet expectations. Small sizes also may discourage professional management since, at these scales, forestry will often only be a secondary occupational consideration.
Total forest area in private hands. It is difficult to generalize about the total area of private forest land that are appropriate for any country. However, projected figures for the countries studied are generally well below that of other Western European countries. This may effect the development of the secondary services (marketing, transformation, processing, planting, etc.) needed for a dynamic and productive forestry sector.
The issue of rights. Privatizing forest land implies transferring a series of rights to the owner. Privatization will not have the desired effects if overly onerous restrictions are subsequently placed on owners for forest management, e.g. if requirements for management plans approved by the government effectively mean that the government is managing or controlling the management of the forest land. If the public interest implies that restrictions must be placed on private management and use, compensation may have to be considered.
The rate of privatization. The process of privatization should be carefully reviewed, monitored and tracked in order to get good information on potential problems and opportunities. Indicators will have to be developed that include both socio-economic and bio-physical parameters. It will be useful to monitor the forest real estate market, both formal and informal.
'Corporate' or industrial private forest owners. In many countries much of the economic activity and benefit from forestry comes from larger corporate or industrial forest owners. These are owners that have significant holdings to manage and can therefore afford investments and efficiencies in management. Forestry is a main occupation if not the only occupation for these owners. Privatization in the CEE has not really addressed this potential group. Privatization of forest land to create this category of land manager might be considered along side of efforts to promote the consolidation of forest property and organize associations for forest management.
General
Institutional issues
Technical and policy issues
Capacity building issues
Financial and economic issues
Forestry extension is needed. The numbers of new owners, the size of holdings, the lack of local organizations and economic pressures motivating short term gains underline the somewhat urgent need for extension systems that can help promote economical and sustainable forest management.
Forestry extension is happening in a range of settings. Some extension functions are happening all the time in different formal and informal settings. Forest owners talk to each other, emerging private sector organizations provide or sell goods and services and information; forestry and environmental NGOs have outreach programmes, etc. Part of government's role in extension may be to facilitate and catalyze these initiatives and not supplant them.
The importance of functions. A number of functions can be assigned to extension such as information, training, advice, credit, etc. An analysis of who is already performing these tasks and who is the most appropriate to do so, may help in deciding the eventual role for government in extension activities.
A systematic and integrated approach is needed. For private forestry to take off a range of interrelated criteria have to be met. Privatizing forests may give an incentive to greater investment but be constrained by lack of suitable 'technical packages' or credit. The incentives provided by clear ownership may be compromised by the need to get governmental approval for interventions and planning. Therefore it is necessary that a systematic approach be taken to extension and the extension environment to assure that forestry will be effective and efficient. Applying an integrated approach in the development of forestry extension systems means that one has to harmonize forest sector policy and objectives with those of other sectors. A forestry extensionist, while carrying out effective forestry extension has to have knowledge of trends, programmes and realities of other disciplines and be prepared to coordinate and facilitate.
Local extension end-users should participate in the development and implementation of extension systems. Local forest owners and forest sector workers can bring not only local knowledge to the development of an extension system but also commitment and resources. This can best happen if the nature of the extension system is negotiated and developed together with the local forest stake holders. For government departments responsible for forestry an additional benefit of participation may be the creation of a 'lobby' for forestry in general.
The identification of owners and their objectives. New private forest owners may have a range of objectives for their forest lands. Some objectives may be social and some may related to economic activities such as hunting in addition to the more typical forestry objectives. The objectives and characteristics of the owners influence extension and need to be clearly identified. A profile of each owner might be useful, containing at least information on the objective of the owner, his/her occupation, description of the property etc. Forest owner profiles could form the basis for a computerized database. Extension systems should continually reassess stakeholder objectives.
Adaptations for local conditions. Conditions vary between localities and therefore the emphasis and approach of extension should vary accordingly. This is another issue that underlines the importance of local participation in the development of extension systems. Examples from and lessons learnt in other countries can be very useful and certain successful elements of forestry extension systems can be reviewed, adapted and incorporated in the process of system development in CEE countries.
While extension systems should be adapted to the local and national contexts there seems to be opportunities for productive exchanges at the regional or sub-regional level. In terms of a general approach to forestry, forest ownership and forest management, many of these countries have some structural similarities and are undergoing similar restructuring and privatization processes. This would seem to indicate that regional cooperation, especially in training and sharing of experience and ideas about forestry extension would have a great deal of benefit.
Multi-partner extension systems may be needed. Given the present circumstances it is clear that governments can not do everything. In an increasingly complex and diverse institutional environment, extension systems will have to take advantage of the relative strengths of each type of organization in developing an extension system. The state may have to take initial responsibility and become active in facilitating a forestry extension framework in the interest of the public to secure sustainable forest management in private forests. Eventually other partners will include local associations, agricultural extension services, private sector concerns, non-governmental organizations, universities and others.
Forming groups and associations to effectively and efficiently manage small holdings. In many cases new private owners have very small and diverse holdings. It may be difficult to promote sustainable forestry at this scale and, in any case, management and economies of scale will be very difficult to achieve. It is therefore necessary for owners to associate and coordinate management and the provision of inputs and other forestry activities. Given the experience in many of these countries with collective approaches to production there may be some hesitancy about associations or group formation. Approaches to group formation will have to be carefully developed and negotiated. Other countries have had positive experiences with groups of forest owners which could perhaps merit study.
Separating or combining extension and regulatory functions. Extension workers have to gain the trust of their clients and this might be difficult, if they at the same time are mandated to supervise them, approve plans and enforce regulatory measures. The issue of the separation or combination of regulatory and extension functions will have to be carefully considered.
Research and Extension. Research on private forestry will be needed. Forestry extension needs close links to forestry research in order to communicate research results to the private forest owners and to inform forestry research institutions about the research needs and results of private forestry. The close relation between forestry extension and forestry research is also necessary to form extension dialogue that is timely and scientifically sound. The state, associations of smaller private forest properties and larger private forest estates as well as other may have an interest in financing research on private forestry issues.
Silvicultural techniques and forest management techniques developed for large estates will have to adapted and 'interpreted' for small owners. A great wealth of silvicultural and forest management knowledge exists in the countries. However, it is not always clear whether these techniques are appropriate for small private owners. Adaptation of these techniques, with the participation of the owners and the extension agents may be necessary. These techniques may also have to be simplified and made appropriate to the socio-economic and education level of the owners.
Good technical content is required. Extension has to be able to help correctly diagnose and solve technical problems that forest owners and stake holders have. In other words it may not be sufficient but it is necessary to have good technical 'packages'. The existing knowledge of scientific forestry and silviculture may not be appropriate for small holders and private forest owners. Therefore applied research on problems particular to small private owners and 'participatory technology development' where stake holders are involved in the process of developing techniques and technologies might be needed.
Private farmland owners will also probably need forestry advice especially in agroforestry, soil and water conservation, environmentally sound agriculture and reforestation, afforestation and the rehabilitation of marginal, degraded and abandoned lands. The privatization of farm land will also create demands for forestry services. In some cases it may be possible to provide supplemental training to those involved in agricultural extension with appropriate backstopping from the forestry departments. In other cases there may be a justification for having extension agents solely concentrating on forestry issues on agricultural land.
For public forest land, mechanisms should be developed to allow for increased public participation and involvement. The present political climate in many countries, including decentralization and liberalization, means that local people and groups may become or wish to become more involved in decision-making, policy development and management of national forests. These forest administrations will have to open themselves further to public input. This trend has already happened in a number of other countries. Mechanisms must be found where this participation is as productive as possible and extension has a role to play. Local forest administrations will require staff with outreach and extension skills who can interact with the public.
Communication skills and strategy are important. Private owners have rights and make decisions about their land. Foresters can not use the previous 'command and control' approaches, at least in this tenure category. Listening as well as advise giving skills are needed. Those involved in extension will need training in communication skills - not only in public relations and promoting techniques but in getting feedback and information and priorities from private forest owners.
Communication aspects of extension are more likely to be successful if they are part of a broad strategy and integrated into the extension planning process from the beginning.
Training is required for foresters who work in extension. A cadre of technically well-qualified foresters exists in these countries. To handle the extension needs of the fairly sudden shift to private ownership, it will be necessary to provide part of this cadre with in-service training in extension. Identification of appropriate foresters as extension candidates and the development of a training programme is necessary. One possibly would start with 'training of trainers', a method based on cost-effective multiplication effects. Identification of appropriate foresters as extension candidates and the development of a training programme is necessary.
While much can be done through in-service training it will also eventually be necessary to consider curriculum revisions at the level of the forestry educational institutions. Some extension and extension related topics should be built into the core curriculum and programmes developed for those who wish to specialize in this area.
Private forest owners will need training. Many new owners will have lost touch with forestry and will lack certain forestry and organizational skills. For almost any management objective to be identified by the owners it will be necessary for the owners to receive some training. The extension system should be equipped and staff to provide, facilitate or sub-contract the types of training that are in the most demand and need. Training methodologies should promote participation and the use of local resources. Adult education techniques with emphasis on interactive exercises and practical issues and skills should be explored.
Private forest owners will need socio-economic skills, information and support. New owners will need many types of information and skills in addition to technical ones. Organizational skills will be important as well as economic analysis and information on market trends.
Regular and reliable funding of forestry extension. It is unlikely that small, private forest owners would be prepared to directly pay for extension services themselves. It is also unlikely that the state will have much funding flexibility. However, the state will have to commit itself to fund, at least partly, forestry extension to secure the functioning of the extension framework. Private forest owners could indirectly co-fund extension, through reinvesting royalties or taxes on private forest product sales or land taxes on private forests into forestry extension. The development and implementation of an extension system might benefit from a public relation component. This may be useful to obtain and maintain adequate political and financial support for forestry extension. The involvement of other partners will also be necessary.
Incentives of forestry extension. Private forest owners often need an incentive package which could consist of direct financial or material support, indirect measures, such as tax exemptions or reductions and certain services, e.g. marketing assistance. Incentives packages could be a direct part of the extension system although often they are independent but coordinated. They should leave a certain liberty to chose between different options. Incentive packages have to be clearly formulated and information on them made available to all private forest owners. Systems for monitoring of the effects of incentives need to be developed.
Access to credit. Even if private forest owners would like to invest to improve the productivity of their forests, they often lack investment capital. Since in some CEE countries the restitution and privatization process is implemented in stages (e.g. first earmarking a certain forest area to be restituted, then transferring the usufruct right only, before granting after some time finally the full land title), future-owners and usufruct right holders have no access to credit until they receive full land titles. Governments should be aware that an investment-friendly environment should be created, also through developing attractive ways for the access to credit.
Monitoring the development of economics of private forests. Many Western European states have established a network of representative types of private forest properties to monitor their economical development. The information obtained through these networks enables owners to early identify negative or positive trends, which then can be reacted to accordingly also by government authorities. Hard data are needed to win political and financial support for necessary remedial or facilitating actions.
