From European Forestry Strategies to Implementing Local Policies: A Study on Public Forest Workers in the Tuscany Region of Italy

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS Forest strategies of the EU are exclusively implemented at the local level. In Italy, the executors of forestry policies are public forest personnel. Worker profile study helps to verify the implementation degree of forest policies. Analyzing local actions highlights the strengths and weaknesses of forestry policies. Monitoring of local forest management is of great importance. SUMMARY Even though forests represent almost half of the EU territory, the implementation of forestry strategies is delegated to local government institutions. This study proposes an overview of the main European forestry strategies, national (Italian) guidelines and local implementation instruments (in Tuscany). This approach made it possible to identify the actual executors of forestry policies, i.e., the public forest workers. The paper provides a framework of the recent dynamics of regional forestry instruments, their effects on available financial resources and their technical-operational consequences. Furthermore, Tuscan public forest worker profiles were defined through an online questionnaire. The results show that it is essential to activate constant monitoring of local actions in order to verify the effectiveness of superordinate forestry policies.