Whose forest: State-owned, private, or social? Ownership, governance of forest resources and concept of ‘social forests’ as a response to deforestation in Poland

The article analyzes – in the context of global threats to forests and the transnational process of deforestation – the possibility of moving beyond state and private forms of forest ownership, which place a particular emphasis on the productive functions of forests. The authors stress that state ownership of forests does not mean that they are public, as society often has no influence whatsoever on the shaping of forest policy. The adjective ‘public’ indicates that they belong to the entire society, which can collectively decide on their fate. In practice, forest policy in Poland is decided by the State Forests – a centralised, hierarchical institution that ignores public opinion and manages forests on behalf of the state treasury. To change this situation and to assert the environmental and social functions of forests, the article suggests that it is worth considering a process of the ‘socialisation’ of forests. Conflicts surrounding forest policy in Poland have opened a public debate on the project of social forests, which are intended to be established mainly in suburban areas. The main distinguishing feature of social forests is the rejection of the dominant productive function of forests and the need to protect a broad spectrum of non-productive forest functions. What is the level of support for social forests, and which factors shape it? The results obtained indicate that there is considerable social potential for the decentralisation of forest governance, as well as for the dissemination of various forms of community forest ownership.