Regional Development in Forestry from the Point of View of the Bioeconomy at the EU Member-State Level

Abstract

This study investigates the integration of forestry into strategic planning across territorial levels in the context of the bioeconomy, using the Czech Republic as a case study of an EU member state. This is examined through a qualitative content analysis of regional and territorial local plans, to identify which topics are associated with forestry (n = 67). Using the example of a private forest owner, the specific implementation is then shown. To gather feedback on the assessed strategic documents, we compared economic results for state, municipal, and private forest owners. The research assumption is that the lower the territorial local level, the greater the importance local governments attach to forestry. The main featured topics are the water regime, sustainable forestry, biodiversity support, climate change, maintenance infrastructure, social functions, and economic competitiveness. The results show that the assumption that the lower the territorial planning level, the more forestry is featured in strategies was not confirmed. The relationship is rather the opposite. The presented economic results clearly demonstrate that financial contributions to forest management are a logical consequence of policies. These results correlated with those of the content analysis. The multi-level approach and use of economic data provide valuable empirical depth, and the main finding challenges common assumptions about policy emphasis at lower governance levels.