Abstract
Forest-covered areas remain one of the largest sources of contaminants and nutrients reaching the Baltic Sea from Sweden. A range of new collaborative projects have recently been initiated, spurred by the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, to minimize the negative forestry influence on water quality. But how effective are these new collaborative water quality strategies? The connection to the state-of-the-art scientific understanding of the effectiveness of the different preventive measures has never been tested. The overall purpose of this project is therefore to explore through what mechanisms collaborative forest-water governance can become most effective. About 20 project partnerships in the Vindel river watershed in north Sweden will be examined in depth using a cross-disciplinary approach. Have approaches to managing forest water quality been changed before and after the WFD came into action and if so, how? The relationship between partnership characteristics, including the role of the state and real and perceived impacts on watersheds will be studied using the frameworks of collaborative governance (Emerson et al 2011) and watershed management (Sabatier et al 2005). The water quality assessment will employ multiple methods developed within the Krycklan Research Catchment to investigate the effectiveness of the different protective actions.
Sweden