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Restitution of forest property in post-communist Bulgaria

Staddon, Caedmon

Authors

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Chad Staddon Chad.Staddon@uwe.ac.uk
Professor/Associate Head of Department: Research and Scholarship



Abstract

After ten years of post-communist transformation, the current Bulgarian Government has only recently initiated the task of wholesale reform of the communist-era structures extant within the forestry sector. This is an unavoidably complex process, involving the reorganisation of tenure over forest resources (restitution to pre-communist era owners), the privatisation and decentralisation of commercial and related activities in the woods, the redefinition of the role of the State in oversight, management and planning, and the development of a supportive institutional context for the growth of small and medium private enterprise throughout the forestry production process. This paper discusses the legal, institutional, economic and environmental implications of forest restitution. The author argues that the particular Bulgarian solution to the reform of forestry tenure structures, based on a mix of private and public ownership, arises out of the crucible of Bulgarian historical geography and the requirements of contemporary neoliberal models of transition. On the basis of the analysis, a number of important implications for Bulgarian, and indeed all post-communist forestry sectors, are raised for major related processes, such as the development of a robust private forestry sector, the limitation of the role of the State to conservation, management and oversight, and the reconfiguration of timber as a resource for local economic development. (C) 2000 United Nations. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Staddon, C. (2000). Restitution of forest property in post-communist Bulgaria. Natural Resources Forum, 24(3), 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00947.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2000
Deposit Date Sep 28, 2019
Journal Natural Resources Forum
Print ISSN 0165-0203
Electronic ISSN 1477-8947
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 24
Issue 3
Pages 237-246
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00947.x
Keywords General Environmental Science
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/3352629