| 1. |
- Elbakidze, Marine, et al.
(author)
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Biosphere Reserves for conservation and development in Ukraine? : Legal recognition and establishment of the Roztochya initiative
- 2013
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In: Environmental Conservation. - 0376-8929 .- 1469-4387. ; 40:2, s. 157-166
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Biosphere Reserve (BR) concept is an approach that simultaneously reconciles and promotes conservation of natural and cultural diversity, environmentally and socioculturally sustainable economic development, and research. This study focuses on the legal recognition of the BR concept as a tool for sustainable development (SD) in Ukraine, and what impact legislation has had on BR implementation. The BR concept has been incorporated into Ukrainian nature conservation legislation. However, interviews with locals engaged with the Roztochya BR initiative revealed that the aim to promote sustainability through stakeholder collaboration was poorly implemented. Legislative misplacement of the BR concept created misunderstandings among local people during the emergence of the Roztochya BR initiative. BR implementation may be improved by (1) choosing national terminology describing the concept carefully, because this affects stakeholder perceptions, (2) ensuring that legislation for BRs has a multi-sectoral character, and (3) ensuring that those who implement BR initiatives have the understanding, knowledge and will to lead and facilitate SD as a collaborative social learning process towards ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability.
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| 2. |
- Axelsson, Robert, et al.
(author)
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Sustainable Development and Sustainability: Landscape Approach as a Practical Interpretation of Principles and Implementation Concepts
- 2011
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In: Journal of Landscape Ecology. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 1803-2427 .- 1805-4196. ; 4, s. 5-30
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The situation for governors and managers of natural resources has increased in complexity. Previously it was enough to sustain the yields of wood, food and energy. Today, maintenance of ecosystem services, conservation of biodiversity, rural development and human wellbeing are new additional objectives. At the same time there are new risks and uncertainties linked to climate change, economic globalisation, energy security and water supply. Consequently, adaptive and holistic research, governance and management are needed. Landscape is a concept and framework that can be used as an approach to enhance implementation of policies about sustainable development as a societal process and sustainability as outcomes on the ground. For our analysis to define the landscape approach we used a hierarchical framework consisting of principles, concepts and initiatives; and included three principles defining SD and sustainability and five international concepts to analyze its implementation for our analysis to define landscape approach. We propose a practical operationalization that consists of five core attributes, (1) a sufficiently large area that matches management requirements and challenges to deliver desired goods, services and values, (2) multi-level and multi-sector stakeholder collaboration that promotes sustainable development as a social process, (3) commitment to and understanding of sustainability as an aim among stakeholders, (4) integrative knowledge production, and (5) sharing of experience, results and information, to develop local or tacit to general or explicit knowledge. Finally, we discuss the need for integrative research to study landscape approach concepts and what local initiatives using different concepts deliver on the ground.
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| 3. |
- Elbakidze, Marine, et al.
(author)
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A bottom-up approach to map land covers as potential green infrastructure hubs for human well-being in rural settings : A case study from Sweden
- 2017
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In: Landscape and Urban Planning. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-2046 .- 1872-6062. ; 168, s. 72-83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Green infrastructure (GI) policy encourages the spatial planning of natural and semi-natural areas to deliver biodiversity conservation and a wide range of ecosystem services (ES) important to human well-being. Much of the current literature relies on expert-led and top-down processes to investigate connections between landscapes' different land covers and ES. Little is known regarding the preferences of residents, and how they connect land covers with the delivery of ES important for their well-being. The aim of this study is to identify and locate such land cover types as GI that provide multiple ES important for human well-being in rural settings. First, we interviewed 400 urban and rural residents to identify ES important for personal well-being and the land covers that deliver multiple ES in three counties that best represent the existing rural-urban gradient in Sweden. Second, to support the inclusion of GI in spatial planning, we identified and located spatial concentrations of individual land covers providing multiple ES (GI hubs) and significant clusters of such land covers (GI hotspots). The majority of urban and rural respondents associated their well-being with lakes, mountains above the tree line, old-growth forests, wooded-pastures, mature pine forests and rural farmsteads. The areal proportion of each type of hub was low, on average 3.5%. At least three land management strategies are needed to sustain GI hubs: maintenance of the composition, structure and function of natural ecosystems in protected areas; support for traditional agroforestry and villages as social-ecological systems; and diversification of the current intensive forest management approach.
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| 4. |
- Stryamets, Natalya, et al.
(author)
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From economic survival to recreation: contemporary uses of wild food and medicine in rural Sweden, Ukraine and NW Russia
- 2015
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In: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1746-4269. ; 11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: There are many ethnobotanical studies on the use of wild plants and mushrooms for food and medicinal treatment in Europe. However, there is a lack of comparative ethnobotanical research on the role of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) as wild food and medicine in local livelihoods in countries with different socio-economic conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the present use of wild food and medicine in three places representing different stages of socio-economic development in Europe. Specifically we explore which plant and fungi species people use for food and medicine in three selected rural regions of Sweden, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.Methods: We studied the current use of NWFPs for food and medicine in three rural areas that represent a gradient in economic development (as indicated by the World Bank), i. e., Smaland high plain (south Sweden), Roztochya (western Ukraine), and Kortkeros (Komi Republic in North West Russia). All areas were characterised by (a) predominating rural residency, (b) high forest coverage, and (c) free access to NWFPs. A total of 205 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents in the three study areas. The collected NWFPs data included (1) the species that are used; (2) the amount harvested, (3) uses and practices (4) changes over time, (5) sources of knowledge regarding the use of NWFPs as wild food and medicine and (6) traditional recipes.Results: In Sweden 11 species of wild plant and fungi species were used as food, and no plant species were used for medicinal purposes. In Ukraine the present use of NWFPs included 26 wild foods and 60 medicinal species, while in Russia 36 food and 44 medicinal species were reported.Conclusions: In the economically less developed rural areas of Ukraine and Russia, the use of NWFPs continues to be an important part of livelihoods, both as a source of income and for domestic use as food and medicine. In Sweden the collection of wild food has become mainly a recreational activity and the use of medicinal plants is no longer prevalent among our respondents. This leads us to suggest that the consumption of wild food and medicine is influenced by the socio-economic situation in a country.
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| 5. |
- Stryamets, Natalya
(author)
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Non-wood forest products for livelihoods
- 2012
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In: Bosque. - 0304-8799 .- 0717-9200. ; 33, s. 329-332
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Forests provide a diversity of non-wood forest products as a resource base for regional and rural development. The role of non-wood forest products differs in time and space. The aim of the study was to analyze the role of non-wood forest products in livelihoods, especially forest-dependent communities, in Ukraine and Sweden. 114 interviews with local stakeholders in two countries were done for this study. The results showed that (1) non-wood forest products have potential for economic rural development, (2) traditional practices of non-wood forest products utilization were retained and revived in Ukraine, (3) and were no longer economically but rather socially important for local people in Sweden. Non-wood forest products have great potential for sustainable rural development, as resources for economic development.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Stryamets, Natalya, et al.
(author)
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Role of non-wood forest products for local livelihoods in countries with transition and market economies: case studies in Ukraine and Sweden
- 2012
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 27, s. 74-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The role of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in local economies differ in time and space. We analysed Ukrainian and Swedish national policies and management rules related to the use of NWFPs, and described how different forest stakeholders utilised NWFPs in rural areas in Ukraine and Sweden. In total we interviewed 114 local forest stakeholders in one rural region's settlements in both countries. The topics for the field study were (1) the reasons and amounts of NWFPs harvested by different forest user categories; (2) traditional practices of NWFP use, including harvesting methods and (3) how these practices have changed over the past decades. At the national level, both countries allowed the utilisation of most NWFPs, did not regulate the use, and did not include NWFPs into forest management plans. In both case studies, historical use of NWFPs was intensive. This use remained important in Ukraine, but not in Sweden. Due to difficult economic transition in Ukraine, use of NWFPs by locals has increased. While hunting as a tradition was more popular in the Swedish case study, recreational use of forest was popular in both case studies. Finally, we discuss the role of NWFPs in countries with transition and market economies, and the extent to which the countries support sustainable use of NWFPs.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Stryamets, Natalya
(author)
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Use and governance of non-wood forest products in market and transition economies : case studies from Sweden, Ukraine and the Russian Federation
- 2016
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Forests have provided non-wood forest products (NWFPs) that sustain local communities for Millennia. Today, the role of NWFPs for local livelihoods differs in time and space. International policies highlight the importance of NWFPs globally and in European countries. Using a case study approach I studied use and governance of NWFPs in three rural areas that represent a gradient in economic development, i.e., Småland (Sweden), Roztochya (Ukraine), and Kortkeros (Komi Republic in Russia). This thesis is based on 307 semi-structured interviews, analysis of global, national and regional legal documents and systematic literature analysis. In forest-dependent rural areas NWFPs continue to be an important part of livelihoods by ensuring food security both directly, and by providing additional income (Ukraine and Russia). In wealthy rural communities it is a cultural tradition and a part of recreational activities (Sweden). Governance of NWFPs differed among the case studies and the countries they represent. In Sweden there are on-going debates between different actors, stakeholders and organizations on how to govern NWFPs due to increasing commercial harvest of plant origin NWFPs. In Ukraine, there is a top-down government regime related to NWFPs, which actually exists only de-jury, not de-facto. In the Russian case study there has been a shift from government to governance due to the conflict between traditional use of NWFPs and commercial forest logging that led to legitimization of local communities’ rights in NWFPs use and governance. In order to establish new forms of NWFP governance, there is a need for developing landscape approach initiatives that aim at establishing place-based stakeholder partnerships that represent different sectors at multiple levels of governance. Sustainable use, management and governance of NWFPs are an integral part of sustainable forest management (SFM). The multi-functional value of NWFPs provided by forest landscapes is important for rural communities, but often is neither supported by national policy and management regulations nor appropriate governance. To promote sustainable use of NWFPs new policy instruments should be developed in all three countries.
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| 10. |
- Stryamets, Natalya
(author)
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Use and governance of non-wood forest products in transition and market economies : case studies in Ukraine and Sweden
- 2012
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Globally, forests and woodlands provide a large variety of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) as a resource base for regional and local development in rural landscapes. The role of NWFPs differs in time and space, and is often linked to the socio-economic context. In this thesis I (1) compared how the role of NWFPs is reflected in national policies in two countries in transition and with market economies (Ukraine and Sweden, respectively), and how these resources are used by different forest stakeholders in local landscape case studies in both countries (Roztochya and Småland, respectively); (2) identified the opportunities and challenges of sustainable use of NWFPs for local people in rural landscapes where these resources are very important for local livelihoods (Roztochya in Ukraine); (3) studied the governance of the emerging Roztochya Biosphere Reserve (BR) aimed at sustainable development towards sustainability in order to understand the roles and rights of different stakeholders in the decision-making process concerning NWFPs. Interviews with local forest stakeholders showed that (1) in both countries people have free access to NWFPs in all types of forest ownership; (2) reasons and methods of collection and amounts of harvested NWFPs by different forest users differed much between the Ukrainian and Swedish case studies, (3) traditional practices of NWFPs’ utilization were retained and revived in Ukraine, and (4) were no longer economically but rather socially important for local people in Sweden. To study governance of NWFPs I focused on the recently established BR in the Ukrainian case study. Finally, I discuss the role of NWFPs in transition and market economies, respectively, the extent to which sustainable use of NWFPs is supported in national policies, and BR as a tool for social learning and as a basis for implementation of sustainable forest management, including NWFPs.
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