The Changing Governance of Renewable Natural Resources in Northwest Russia

Bringing together scholars of human geography, environmental sociology, law, economics and international policy from Finland, Russia, Sweden and Germany, this book examines how local communities and enterprises adjust to transition and institutional changes in Northwest Russia. A unique and important facet of the book is that it analyzes the law and legal institutions, focusing on how those involved in law use or abuse it, in relation to unofficial institutions and the interplay of different interest groups in governing forest and fishery resources. The local view is approached empirically with data gathered through interviews, which is then compared against institutional change at national level and in the global arena. Multidisciplinary in nature, the book demonstrates innovative ways of adjusting to change, combining old and new, local and global and providing a holistic view of the Russian economy and a society in transition.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Introduction, Soili Nystén- Haarala; Part I National Policies and a Transition to a Market Economy: Institutions, interest groups and governance ofnatural resources in Russia, Soili Nystén-Haarala and Juha Kotilainen; The task of macroeconomic policy in generating trust in Russia's development, Stefan Walter; Russian forest regulation and the integration of sustainable forest management, Minna Pappila; Fishery governance in Northwest Russia, Larissa Riabova and Lyudmila Ivanova; The struggle for the ownership of pulp and paper mills, Anna-Maija Matilainen. Part II Case Studies on Different Aspects of Governance: Re-territorializing the Russian North through hybrid forest management, Julia Kotilainen, Antonina A. Kulyasova, Ivan P. Kulyasov and Svetlana S. Pchelkina; Construction of trust in Russian mill towns, Jarmo Kortelainen and Soili Nystén-Haarala; Conflict as a form of governance: the market campaign to save Karelian forests, Maria Tysiachniouk; Transformation of nature management in Pomorie: fishing villages on the Onega peninsula of the White Sea, Antonina A. Kulyasova and Ivan P. Kulyasov. Part III The International and Global Impacts on National Environmental Policy and Local Forestry and Fishery: Local adaptation to climate change in fishing villages and forest settlements in Northwest Russia, E. Carina H. Keskitalo and Antonia A. Kulyasova; Regional governance, path dependency and capacity-building in international environmental cooperation, Monica Tennberg; Summary, Soili Nystén-Haarala; Index.

About the Author :
Soili Nysten-Haarala is Professor of Civil Law at the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics at the University of Joensuu, Finland. Soili Nysten- Haarala, Juha Kotilainen, Stefan Walter, Minna Pappila, Larissa Riabova, Lyudmila Ivanova, Anna-Maija Matilainen, Antonina A. Kulyasova, Ivan P. Kulyasov, Svetlana S. Pchelkina, Jarmo Kortelainen, Maria Tysiachniouk, E. Carina H. Keskitalo, Monica Tennberg.

Review :
'Through detailed empirical studies in local communities, this volume enlightens our understanding of the (un)sustainable use and governance of forests and fisheries in Russia, and also in a wider global developments. It is a major and significant contribution to the still underdeveloped literature in this area and to the wider literature on environmental governance.' Arthur P.J. Mol, Wageningen University, The Netherlands 'I have nothing but high praise for the book. It paints a very rich picture of the Russian transition, filling in the blanks customarily left by the standard sweeping accounts and examining what "institutional change" or "path dependency" actually entail in concrete, specific, empirical terms.' The Russian Review 'The strength of this volume lies in the detailed empirical analysis of the forestry and fishery sectors at the industry and regional scale in Northwest Russia... For anyone interested in resource management in Russia, this book contains work that is essential reading.' Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy