The forest beyond the trees: A network perspective on governing co-production of nature's contributions to people.

Abstract

Nature's contributions to people (NCP) provided by forests are co-produced by an interplay of natural and anthropogenic capitals, including human, social, physical, and financial capital, which are influenced by various actors across multiple levels. Here, we assessed the co-production of four forest NCP (timber, habitat creation and maintenance, climate regulation, non-material NCP). We conducted social network analyses based on interviews with local forest actors to (i) understand which actors are most relevant for managing different anthropogenic capitals in NCP co-production and (ii) identify patterns of governing co-produced forest NCP via actor relationships. Our findings revealed three patterns: (1) governance of timber production via financial flows; (2) governance of knowledge and labour for climate regulation; and (3) governance for habitat management. Making actor-capital relationships tangible provides evidence to inform decision-making by tracing how specific actors favour certain capitals potentially influencing the sustainability of NCP co-production.