Policy Processes in the Institutionalisation of Private Forestry in the Republic of North Macedonia

As a result of recent political changes in North Macedonia, economic practice in the country has moved away from the communist model that was dominated by state ownership. As a part of this movement, the National Association of Private Forest Owners was founded to support the sustainable management of private forests and as an instrument to help overcome the new challenges faced by this new interest group and government policy in local forestry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to understand the enabling and constraining aspects of North Macedonian forest policy on the institutionalisation of private forestry. The findings show that some socialist structures and practices related to forest management activities on private forest land still exist. The attempts to strengthen private forestry by introducing more modern forms of institutionalisation can be seen in the country’s Law on Forests amendment from 2011 initiating the denationalisation of forest management activities on private forest land and introducing private licenced bodies for such. With further amendments in 2014, the policy largely returned to how it was when the country was a part of Yugoslavia, influencing the progress of the institutionalisation of private forestry to remain symbolic. Integrating solutions to private forestry problems and concerns into the broader forest policy domain requires a deep understanding of private forestry rational principles and a strong political will to do so. Effective national forest policy coordination is one of the solutions.