Local forest governance assessed through Social Network Analysis: comparison of three case studies in Italy, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro

In natural resources governance, there is a growing awareness on the importance of being able to manage multidimensional networks which involve a multitude of actors representing different levels (from local to international; vertical integration) and various (public and private) sectors (horizontal integration). The organizations which play key roles in local development based on forest resources need to involve actors of civil society in decision-making processes, and to form new networks of collaboration and information exchange. At local level, governance assessment systems seldom consider the analysis of networks as an instrument to better address policy making, and Social Network Analysis (SNA) is prominently used in descriptive studies. In our work, SNA tool has been applied in three case studies (protected forest areas, in Italy, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina). Indices, including network density and cliques analysis, typical of SNA, have been calculated as proxy indicators for evaluating key aspects of governance capacity (e.g. level of efficiency and participation). The snowball technique was applied to identify stakeholders, data were collected through face-to-face interviews in 2012 and 2013, and networks were graphically represented. Results show that SNA is important to assess the role of main actors and to evaluate the policy process in local forest governance.