B. Revisiting the Concept of Planning in Relation to Forests

In relation to forests, planning is a continuous process of decisions and actions about alternative ways of using and conserving trees and forests, with the intent of achieving particular goals in the medium and long term.

Planning is organized by administrative levels, geographical units, and functional purposes (see Box 2). In this publication, we minimize our use of the term "sector planning." This is because much previous planning in relation to forests has failed to cross sectoral boundaries. Instead, we favor the term "strategic planning," where a strategy is a careful plan or method to achieve defined goals.

Examples of strategies are to use forests to contribute to achievement of goals in agricultural development, energy policy, social policy for indigenous people, industrial development, and ecosystem protection. These aims are neither new nor original. But priorities among them can be different from one country to another or from time to time. Moreover, the choice of strategies depends on:

· successes and failures in trying to meet these goals in the past;
· ability to apply "lessons learnt" from these experiences;
· the extent of cooperation between the forestry agency and other organizations, both public and private; and
· the capacity of the government and interest groups to identify and compare a variety of ideas to solve problems (i.e., the "quality of the dialogue").

Box 1. Some Institutions-Related Planning Problems

General to All Planning

Specific to Forestry Planning

Overcentralization of planning undertaking development

Historical trend to accumulate more power and control over forest resources as doers through territorial approaches rather than working as a facilitator in partnership with local users

Lack of preconditions for participatory approaches

Poor training of staff to work with people; forest agency staff are predominantly foresters rather than a range of balanced specializations working in interdisciplinary teams on socioeconomic and technical issues

Lack of specialization in career streams

Lack of specialization in career streams within forestry for innovative areas, such as community forestry, silvo-pasture development, joint forest management with local people, agroforestry, enterprise development, extension

Lack of flexibility in staffing depending on responsibilities

Orientation to timber and major commercial products rather than on multiple uses and multiple users including the wide variety of products and processing technologies and scales

Lack of criteria and flexibility to transfer responsibility to local people, private sector, NGOs

Poor attention to local control and management capabilities for common property resource utilization, lack of attention to market and income generation potential; lack of linkages to private sector

Narrow planning within sector when many issues such as land use are cross-sectoral and solutions require cross-sectoral action

Lack of dialogue between forestry and agriculture and other sectors, inability to deal with land tenure and use issues; absence of incentives for extracting economic rents

Agencies responsibility for cross-cutting areas are not properly coordinated or staffed for issues

Staff performance incentives based on physical targets rather than demand-driven accomplishments or sustainable forestry development

Local level administrations not geared to undertake development responsibilities

Planning system too complicated for participatory involvement of nontechnical people - need for simpler models for forestry planning

Inefficient and untimely flow of funds for programmes

Longer gestation for forestry programmes create funding problems. Time frame for meeting targets too inflexible for participatory tasks

Box 2. Planning in Relation to Forests Is of Several Types...............

National Development Planning

Development plans set economic and social targets in relation to population growth, economic production, savings and investment, income distribution, and other macroeconomic measures. National development planning determines the budgets for sectors, agencies, and programs including forestry among others.

Regional and Area Planning

When it works well, planning in regions and local areas is coordinated with national development planning. In forestry, regional and area planning are important because of the way forests are separated by gradients of climate, watersheds, transportation infrastructure, and other biophysical aspects and because of their interactions with other activities.

Sector Planning

The forestry sector refers to linkages among the owners, managers, and users of trees and forests. Sectoral planning considers the different ways these owners, managers, and users will act and be affected because of alternative options for forest use and conservation.

Land-Use Planning

Land-use planning occurs at different geographical and activity levels and scales, from continental to local. It indicates the advantages and disadvantages of a specific use on a particular unit of land according to physical, economic, and social criteria.

Project Planning

Projects attempt to combine resources to achieve results in an efficient manner. Usually, projects are defined by well-specified objectives, budgets, time frames, and beneficiaries. In top-down planning, projects support goals at sectoral, regional, and national levels. In bottom-up planning, projects are specified prior to being considered for plans at sectoral, regional, and national levels.

Forest Management Planning

Management planning chooses among intervention and non intervention options for specific forests and for a specific mix of production and conservation objectives related to a variety of interest groups. The "manager" is a person or an entire organization, depending on the context.

Forest Enterprise Planning

Enterprise planning refers to business operations (not always for profit) that use one or more forest goods and services. Enterprises are owned and managed by governments, communities, private companies, and individuals. Enterprise planning focuses on resource supply, production technology, and product marketing.

The issues covered by strategic planning in relation to forests vary from country to country and within any one country. Almost everywhere, however, good planning reflects five qualities (Box 3).

Box 3. Qualities of Good Planning Are.......

1. THE CONTRIBUTIONS ASPECT: Planning supports the highest national levels of economic, social, and environmental objectives. Forests must play their part in top-level political and administrative frameworks for economic policy, social development, investment priorities, and environmental strategies.
2. THE FUTURISTIC ASPECT: Planning makes and acts upon predictions of the future. What are the opportunities and consequences for forests because of predicted changes in population, technology, land use, economic policy, and other broad trends? What should be done now to ensure sustainability in the future?
3. THE STRATEGIC ASPECT: Planning identifies problems and discusses alternative solutions to them. Where the social and economic contributions of forests are weak or inadequate, what are the reasons? What should be done to correct the problems? Who should carry out these corrections, and with what policies and institutions?
4. THE IMPLEMENTATION ASPECT: Planning proposes new or modified programs, projects, and budgets to carry out the plan. What specific actions in the medium and long terms will help the country move in the directions recommended by the planning?
5. THE LEARNING ASPECT: Planning specifies a schedule and method to monitor and evaluate the results of the planning. As time passes, does the planning provide the types and amounts of benefits that had been expected? When and how should the planning be updated and revised?

Box 1. Some Institutions-Related Planning Problems
General to All Planning	Specific to Forestry Planning
Overcentralization of planning undertaking development	Historical trend to accumulate more power and control over forest resources as doers through territorial approaches rather than working as a facilitator in partnership with local users
Lack of preconditions for participatory approaches	Poor training of staff to work with people; forest agency staff are predominantly foresters rather than a range of balanced specializations working in interdisciplinary teams on socioeconomic and technical issues
Lack of specialization in career streams	Lack of specialization in career streams within forestry for innovative areas, such as community forestry, silvo-pasture development, joint forest management with local people, agroforestry, enterprise development, extension
Lack of flexibility in staffing depending on responsibilities	Orientation to timber and major commercial products rather than on multiple uses and multiple users including the wide variety of products and processing technologies and scales
Lack of criteria and flexibility to transfer responsibility to local people, private sector, NGOs	Poor attention to local control and management capabilities for common property resource utilization, lack of attention to market and income generation potential; lack of linkages to private sector
Narrow planning within sector when many issues such as land use are cross-sectoral and solutions require cross-sectoral action	Lack of dialogue between forestry and agriculture and other sectors, inability to deal with land tenure and use issues; absence of incentives for extracting economic rents
Agencies responsibility for cross-cutting areas are not properly coordinated or staffed for issues	Staff performance incentives based on physical targets rather than demand-driven accomplishments or sustainable forestry development
Local level administrations not geared to undertake development responsibilities	Planning system too complicated for participatory involvement of nontechnical people - need for simpler models for forestry planning
Inefficient and untimely flow of funds for programmes	Longer gestation for forestry programmes create funding problems. Time frame for meeting targets too inflexible for participatory tasks

Box 2. Planning in Relation to Forests Is of Several Types...............
National Development Planning	Development plans set economic and social targets in relation to population growth, economic production, savings and investment, income distribution, and other macroeconomic measures. National development planning determines the budgets for sectors, agencies, and programs including forestry among others.
Regional and Area Planning	When it works well, planning in regions and local areas is coordinated with national development planning. In forestry, regional and area planning are important because of the way forests are separated by gradients of climate, watersheds, transportation infrastructure, and other biophysical aspects and because of their interactions with other activities.
Sector Planning	The forestry sector refers to linkages among the owners, managers, and users of trees and forests. Sectoral planning considers the different ways these owners, managers, and users will act and be affected because of alternative options for forest use and conservation.
Land-Use Planning	Land-use planning occurs at different geographical and activity levels and scales, from continental to local. It indicates the advantages and disadvantages of a specific use on a particular unit of land according to physical, economic, and social criteria.
Project Planning	Projects attempt to combine resources to achieve results in an efficient manner. Usually, projects are defined by well-specified objectives, budgets, time frames, and beneficiaries. In top-down planning, projects support goals at sectoral, regional, and national levels. In bottom-up planning, projects are specified prior to being considered for plans at sectoral, regional, and national levels.
Forest Management Planning	Management planning chooses among intervention and non intervention options for specific forests and for a specific mix of production and conservation objectives related to a variety of interest groups. The "manager" is a person or an entire organization, depending on the context.
Forest Enterprise Planning	Enterprise planning refers to business operations (not always for profit) that use one or more forest goods and services. Enterprises are owned and managed by governments, communities, private companies, and individuals. Enterprise planning focuses on resource supply, production technology, and product marketing.