She’s a Rainbow: Forest and water policy and management integration in Germany, Spain and Sweden

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of cross-sectoral policy integration between two natural resource sectors: forest and water. Policy integration is defined as a vertical and horizontal process and we explore if perceptions of the effects of forest on water affect integration processes. We conducted a survey with forest and water stakeholders in three EU Member States – Germany, Spain and Sweden – with the aim to answer the following research questions: “How are forest and water perceptions distributed across sectors and stakeholders?” and “How do forest and water perceptions affect the process of cross-sectoral policy integration?”. Results show that with regard to the effects of forests on rainfall, there is more disagreement among stakeholders; however, in general, there is a rather positive view of the effects of forest on water. Positive perceptions are found related to increased chances of cross-sectoral collaboration and participation in joint research projects. This article concludes that the participants in our study are not naïve about forest-water interactions and are open and already engaged in cross-scale, cross-sector and multi-stakeholder interactions. This is despite the perception in the literature that administrations are not engaging in the integration of the forest and water sectors, which might be due to the conceptualization of policy integration only as an output while dismissing the relevance of it as a process.