PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN FOREST PLANNING. AN OPPORTUNITY OR NEED FOR APPLICATION IN GALICIA

The social participation in decision-making processes inland planning and management is a key step in order to achieve viable and lasting solutions. In this sense, public participation is becoming a clear need for modern society with the aim of taking determinations and building social agreement on management of natural resources in particular, and on governance of the territory in general. Within the forestry subsector, first steps are taking in order to include public participation in several processes related to forest planning and management. Therefore, after reviewing the scientific literature on this matter, the present study shows that public participation is one of the fundamental pillars of forest planning, particularly at the strategic level, and may represent one of the opportunities for application in Galicia.