Social Acceptability of a Sustainable Forestry Industry in Puerto Rico: Views of Private, Public, and Non-Profit Sectors

Sustainable forestry is key to increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of regions exposed to extreme atmospheric events. Understanding social acceptability of forest management practices through a public dialogue that involves a diversity of stakeholders is important to define management policies and strategies. Here, we inquire about social acceptability of a sustainable forestry industry in Puerto Rico by convening a set of local experts from private, non-profit, and public sectors through focus group discussions. We presented three scenarios characterized by different elements of sustainability. Discussions included organizational and management considerations, potential products and markets, and the impact of extreme weather events. The results show that greater agreement was observed within groups than across groups. Most of the private sector participants valued mainly financial viability, while the public and the non-profit sectors gave more importance to social equity and environmental protection. This suggests that there is no single ideal model; thus, participation from all sectors in subsequent conversations would be worthwhile to seek a model that would work for most of the stakeholders. As a next step, we suggest expanding the stakeholder consultation effort to delineate a clear road map that can inform sustainable forestry planning at the local level.