Coordinating and implementing multiple systems for forest management: implications of the regulatory framework for sustainable forestry in Sweden

The complexity of multi-level governance is well illustrated by forest management in one of Europe's large forested states, Sweden. Deregulated government policies emphasize ‘freedom with responsibility’, largely expecting the forest sector to determine ways in which policy goals and legal requirements are reached. In relation to this, Sweden has become one of the countries with the largest share of forests certified by third-party organizations, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), in accordance with specific environmental and social criteria. This multi-level case study draws on official documents and semi-structured interviews to analyze Swedish forest governance; specifically, the impact of multiplicity and complexity of environmental considerations on agreement over goal coordination, implementation, and evaluation for feedback and accountability. This contributes to previous research by analyzing interactions between state regulation and certification at multiple levels.