Effective forest conservation in Flanders: perspectives and success factors for environmental activism

Abstract

Flanders has a long history of deforestation and afforestation that has resulted in a low and
highly fragmented forest area. There are several initiatives and an overarching policy goal to
increase the area of forest in Flanders but meanwhile, existing ecologically valuable forests
are still being felled. Especially forests that have not been allocated a ‘green’ (= nature or
forest) designation on the applicable land-use plans, so-called ‘outzoned’ forests, are at risk
of deforestation. Recent judicial initiatives in Flanders aimed at forest expansion and
conservation did not manage to ensure a more effective conservation for these ‘outzoned’
forests. The aim of this study was to explore which factors contribute to a more effective
conservation of forests located outside the designated ‘green’ areas on the applicable land-use plans in Flanders. A two-round Delphi study was used to elicit the perspectives of experts
with regard to effective forest conservation in Flanders. Next to the Delphi, semi-structured
interviews were used to elicit the views of local action groups with regard to effective forest
conservation in Flanders and to identify success factors for environmental activism.
Experts are of the opinion that forest conservation in Flanders is hindered by several factors
such as the financial advantage for municipalities to grant a permit for deforestation in favour of houses and companies, a lack of mainly political but also public support to implement measures aimed at a more effective conservation of forests in Flanders and the exception in the Forest Decree (Bosdecreet) on the moratorium for deforestation for forests that are located in urban and industrial zones. Also lobbying and the influence of certain stakeholders over political leaders and the cost of plan damage (‘planschade’), i.e. the financial remuneration that (local) governments are required to pay to forest owners for the loss of value of their property as a result of the modification of the land-use destination of their property towards nature or forest, are considered important barriers to the conservation of ‘outzoned’ forests in Flanders.
To come to a more effective conservation of forests in Flanders, experts strongly recommend
to identify and provide a more strict legal protection for ecologically valuable forests and to
modify the land-use destination of ‘outzoned’ forests. Experts also advise to increase the
budget for plan damage (‘planschade’). Recent legislation may however mean that a
significantly higher budget will be required to compensate for the plan damage suffered by
affected owners and this may have a significant impact on forest conservation in Flanders.
Other recommendations by experts to ensure a more effective conservation of forests such as
making the preservation of forests financially advantageous for municipalities and timulating the purchase of ecologically valuable forests by environmental organisations and (local) authorities with the aim to preserve these forests will likely also require additional financial resources.
Local action groups are of the opinion that forest conservation in Flanders is mainly hindered
by the spatial destination on the applicable land-use plans of ‘outzoned’ forests, the value of
the property as a result of the spatial destination, the cost of plan damage (‘planschade’),
lobbying and the influence of certain stakeholders over politicians and a lack of knowledge
among society about the ecological value of old forests. Local actions and protest against
envisaged deforestations are considered a factor that contributes to forest conservation in
Flanders.
To come to a more effective conservation of forests in Flanders, local action groups mainly
recommend awareness raising and education initiatives to make people aware of the
ecological value of forests and nature and to identify and preserve existing forests and nature.
Given that civil-society pressure has been highlighted in literature as an important requirement to curtail environmental destruction, a better understanding of the characteristics of successful attempts by local action groups to safeguard forests can increase the effectiveness of future attempts and thereby contribute to a more effective conservation of forests in Flanders. This study was able to identify several key success factors for local action groups for the preservation of a forest for which a felling permit was or is to be received. These include participation in the legal/licencing procedure, support by a lawyer with the right legal knowledge, (collecting) financial resources to compensate for the expenses, legal knowledge and knowledge about the ecological value of the forest, gaining broad public support, deployment of a variety of tools and persistence.
A local action group is furthermore preferably composed of a small group of people with
different types of knowledge, who take up different roles, who address the problem as
objectively as possible and who are able to work well together. It is recommended for local
action groups to have faith that they will succeed and to contact and seek support from
politicians and environmental organisations.
The results of this study can contribute to recommendations to policy makers for changes to
forest policy, to environmental activists in their actions to preserve forests for which a felling
permit has been or is to be received and as inspiration to all actors involved in forest
governance in Flanders who consider engaging in initiatives for the conservation of forests.

Date of Award	1 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Jean Hugé (Examiner) & Raoul Beunen (Co-assessor)