Linking Multi-Functional Forestry Goals with Sustainable Development Objectives: A Multi-National Q-Study

This paper applies Q-methodology to examine stakeholder perspectives on multi-functional forests in Scotland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Five groups of stakeholder attitudes were distinguished. The attitudinal diversity indicated the interdependence of economic, social and environmental benefits from forests. It is associated with differences in respondents' values which are shaped by institutional environments and political, economic and social developments as well as by cultural differences across the analysed countries. At the same time, in each country, forests are perceived as multipurpose resources and the findings reveal stakeholder understanding of a need to integrate biodiversity conservation with sustainable forest management. This study reveals a general consensus on the importance of forest regeneration, primarily through promotion of natural regeneration, and of forest use for multiple purposes, with sustainable forest management practices appearing to be of significance.