Identification of long-standing and emerging agendas in international forest policy discourse

Abstract

This study examined forest policy agendas developed in international policy-making process by analyzing international forest policy documents from 2001 to 2022 with power, perception, potency, and proximity. The forest policy agendas consistently addressed in the documents were agroforestry, biodiversity, climate change, certification, desertification, deforestation, forest landscape restoration, illegal logging and trade, non-timber forest products, sustainable forest management, traditional knowledge, governance, participation, partnerships, forest tenure, forest fire, forest disease, and community-based forest management. The emerging agendas since 2011 were ecosystem services, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus (REDD+), resilience, urban forests, green economy/bioeconomy, and COVID-19. The changes in international forest policy discourse with long-standing and emerging agendas over time showed three characteristics: policy coherence by the power of international environmental conventions; expansion of forest policy targets and areas by perception and proximity of urban forests; and innovative approaches to resilience and bioeconomy by potency and perception. Therefore, this study offers new insights into the creation and transitions of forest policy agendas in the international forest policy discourse.

Keywords

• International forest policy
• Discourse
• Policy agenda
• Agenda-setting
• Forest management