Rethinking Forest Management: A Participatory Blockchain-based Governance Approach

The forest is a high-potential area for many stakeholders, provides valuable contributions to the climate, is profoundly important for sustainability with respect to resources, biodiversity, and so forth. In contrast, today’s forest is frequently managed in a top-down organizational flow where some stakeholders are involved in decision-making whilst others remain uninvolved but still affected. Meanwhile, the process of digital transformation takes place in almost any realm and shows up new ways of participation and of how people can secure their interests. Against this background, we rest on scientific literature and the current forest management situation in Germany and introduce the blockchain technology as a potential enabler for a participatory management (PM) of forest. At the end, we discuss economic potential and incentives for forest owners since adoption is closely linked to acceptance of such models.