Title: SWOT analysis for sustainable forest policy and management: a Greek case study

Authors: Vassiliki Kazana; Angelos Kazaklis; Christos Stamatiou; Paraskevi Koutsona; Anastasia Boutsimea; Dimitrios Fotakis

Addresses: Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Laboratory of Forest Management and Economics, Kavala Institute of Technology (TEI KAVALAS), 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece ' OLYMPOS, Centre for Integrated Environmental Management, 39 Androutsou Str., 55132 Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Laboratory of Forest Management and Economics, Kavala Institute of Technology (TEI KAVALAS), 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Laboratory of Forest Management and Economics, Kavala Institute of Technology (TEI KAVALAS), 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Laboratory of Forest Management and Economics, Kavala Institute of Technology (TEI KAVALAS), 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Laboratory of Forest Management and Economics, Kavala Institute of Technology (TEI KAVALAS), 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, 66100 Drama, Greece

Abstract: A survey was carried out during a workshop of the Greek National Forest Governance Council to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for sustainable forest management assessment in Greece. The National Forest Governance Council was established within the frame of the INFORM project financed through LIFE. Its main role is to support the development process of a knowledge base for development of national forest policy on sustainable forest management assessment and monitoring. This paper presents the important internal and external factors for sustainable forest management assessment identified in the four groups: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, for the forests of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region, in Northern Greece. It also discusses the strategies for this area resulting in a good fit between the internal and external factors. SWOT provides a basic frame within which an analysis of the strategic forest planning environment towards sustainable forest management assessment can be performed.

Keywords: SWOT analysis; strengths; weaknesses; opportunities; threats; sustainable forest management; assessment; monitoring; forest governance; strategic planning; forest planning; forest sustainability; sustainable development; Greece; case study.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIDS.2015.068116

International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences, 2015 Vol.7 No.1, pp.32 - 50

Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

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