Policy

The set of basic principles and associated guidelines, formulated and enforced by the
governing body of an organization, to direct and limit its actions in pursuit of longterm goals.
Forest Policy:

A negotiated agreement amongst the government and relevant stakeholders on a

shared vision and goals for a country's forests and trees, adopted by government;
A way of addressing society's needs and development goals while balancing various

stakeholder interests;
Strategic guidance for managing and using forest and trees;
A comprehensive framework setting up adaptive implementation mechanisms for
diverse contexts and changing conditions.

Why develop a forest policy?

To foster stakeholder ownership leading to improved policy implementation

To provide a forum for negotiation on conflicting interests;
To build a shared vision for guiding future decisions and actions;
To guide coherent institutional frameworks and policy instruments, including forest

legislation;
To create an enabling environment that empowers stakeholders;
To guide the development strategies for responding to emerging issues.
How to develop a forest policy?

Ascertain if the timing is right for initiation of policy development;

Ensure political support and cooperation;
Communicate information regularly, broadly and transparently;
Engage stakeholders and nurture joint ownership and responsibility;
Negotiate to set priorities and address conflicts;
Align and coordinate with other national policies;
Strategize and plan a course of action for implementation.

In making forest policy, the following factors must be considered:

(1) Type of soil
(2) Climatic factors

(3) The desirable spp.

(4) Growth rate of spp.
(5) Silvicultural characteristics
(6) Human population and growth rate
(7) Pattern of wood consumption
(8) Import & Export Possibilities
(9) Technical Advancement
(10) Economic development programme.
Polity
1. Polity refers to a political group of any size or shape- it can be a govt., a state, a
country or even a social group.
2. The form of govt. of a nation, state, society or organization.
3. A polity is a state or one of its subordinate civil

authorities,

such

as

a province, prefecture, county, municipality, city, or district. It is generally understood

to mean a geographic area with a corresponding government.
Politics
1. The activities of the govt., members of law making organizations, or people who try
to influence the way a country is governed.
2. The activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially
the debate between parties having power.
3. Politics is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a
given community as well as the interrelationship between communities.
Political Actors:
A political actor is a group or person who influences political situations.
E.g. Journalists and those who advocate for a cause would be political actors.

Private actor
Private actor would generally refer to a private citizen - i.e. someone who is not a government
employee.
Note: ISIS is considered a private actor.

Public Actor
A public actor is someone acting on behalf of a governmental body, and is therefore subject
to all the laws and regulations of that government regarding certain rights and freedoms.
E.g. MOEF in Bangladesh.
Civil Society:
Civil society refers to the wide array of non-governmental and non-profit organizations that
have a presence in public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others,
based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations.
E.g. community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions etc.
TOOLS USED IN IMPLEMENTING OR FORMULATION OF FOREST POLICY
(1) Public ownership of land.
(2) Public regulation of private land
(3) Financial assistance to approved desirable projects
(4) Provision of technical assistance
(5) Research
(6) Education
(7) Tariffs and trade assistance
(8) Forest Protection against fungal, bacterial, fire pests attacks.
(9) Land Use Planning

Game Theory/Theory of rational choice

Rational choice theory assumes human behaviour is guided by instrumental reason.
Accordingly, individuals always choose what they believe to be the best means to achieve
their given ends. Thus, they are normally regarded as maximizing utility, the "currency" for
everything they cherish (for example: money, a long life, and moral standards).

Rational choice theory adopts methodological individualism; It conceives of social situations

or collective behaviors as the exclusive result of individual actions. However, rational choice
theory is not only applied to individual human actors. Often, the same pursuit of cherished
values is assumed for collective entities, for example corporations or national governments.
For a choice to be considered "rational", a number of assumptions are ordinarily stated:
In economics, the key concept is preference: a preference ranking for a set of items is
considered rational if preferences are 1) complete (every item is ranked) and 2)
transitive (if A is preferred to B, and B to C, then A is preferred to C). Thus, the
decision maker is able to compare all of the alternatives, and all comparisons are
consistent.
If uncertainty is involved, then the independence axiom is often assumed in addition
to rational preferences.
If decision making over time is involved, time consistency is generally assumed as
well.
Finally, the rational decision maker must always choose the item he or she prefers.

Why rational choice theory?

One question that can be asked is why people try to base their models on concepts such as
"reason", "preferences", and what is implied by them, free will. Some potential reasons: a)
they see people as "rational" beings, and thus believe that a model in which they are
represented as such should be reasonably accurate; b) Assumptions of rationality have useful
formal properties; c) The individualistic methodology and the mathematical formalization of
rational choice behavior allow for an easier understanding of complex social phenomena.

Characteristics of Politics:
1. Discerning the Good
2. The Master Art
3. Diversity
4. Pluralism

5. Dialectic
6. Awareness
7. Pragmatism
Discerning the Good
What makes mankind political is our ability to discern the good, and to collectively strive for
it.
The Master Art:
Politics is the master art because it takes all other skills and arts within a society and welds
them into a coherent whole, tending towards the chief Good
Diversity
Diversity, at least in the sense of heterogeneity (i.e. distinguishable difference within an
entity) is a necessary precondition for politics, along with dialectic: the possibility for
resolving tension arising from difference by using individual or collective discernment of the
good.
Pluralism
The point about pluralism is that it requires flexibility. It requires the ability to step outside
our own skins and inhabit others space. Seeing the world through others eyes we come to
appreciate their good qualities. This enables the resolution of tensions or conflicts between
groups, the dialectic that makes politics work.

Dialectic
Dialectic is the resolution of difference. It takes two positions which are in tension (thesis and
antithesis) and finds a third position (synthesis) which resolves the tension.
Awareness
Good politics involves awareness of the larger, macro dimension of our activities. It is
lifting up our heads from the particular tasks we are engaged in to see the bigger picture.

Pragmatism
People can dream of many things, but if they want their dreams to become real they must get
involved in the practical sphere of politics. Politics is grounded in the world.
Implications of politics in the forestry sector
ILLEGAL PRACTICES IN THE FORESTRY SECTOR

Illegal Logging
Timber Smuggling
Practices Specifically Aimed at Reducing Payment of Taxes and Other Fees
Illegal Timber Processing
Grand Corruption: Companies providing support to political parties, bribing

politicians, bribing senior government officials or military officers,

Petty Corruption: Companies bribing junior government officials, military personnel
and local government Officials

Bribes may be paid for

access to a scarce benefit,

Avoidance of a cost.
receipt of a benefit (or avoidance of a cost) that is not
Scarce, but where discretion must be exercised by state officials.
not for a specific public benefit itself, but for services connected
With obtaining a benefit (or avoiding a cost), such as speedy service or inside

information.
To prevent others from sharing in a benefit or (b) to impose a cost on someone else.

Intra-Policy Conflicts
An intra-policy conflict occurs when the conditions of two or more policies can be
simultaneously satisfied, but the actions of at least one of the policies cannot be
simultaneously executed. This implies several things:
- One or more policy rules of each of the policies is satisfied by the same request
- Each condition of each of the conflicting policy rules is satisfied by the same request
Inter-Policy Conflicts

An inter-policy conflict is defined as two or more policies that, when applied to the network,
result in conflicting configuration commands and/or mechanisms to be specified for one or
more network devices. It is important to note that in this case, the two (or more) conflicting
policies do not conflict when compared to each other, but do conflict when applied to a
specific network device or devices. For example, two policies could specify conflicting
configurations on a given interface, or specify that a certain number of queues be used in one
network device and a different number of queues be used in another network device for the
same traffic flow.
What is advocacy?
Advocacy is defined as any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause,
supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others.
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions
within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy can include many
activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public
speaking, commissioning and publishing research or conducting exit poll or the filing of an
amicus brief. Lobbying (often by lobby groups) is a form of advocacy where a direct
approach is made to legislators on an issue which plays a significant role in modern politics.

Policy co-ordination
Policy co-ordination can be defined as supranational rules or norms which are agreed by all
members, leave primary responsibility for the policy area with national authorities, but set
limits on their discretion.