Reed, MaureenRobson, James2019-09-182019-09-182019-082019-09-18August 201http://hdl.handle.net/10388/12329Forest Advisory Committees (FACs) in Canada were established in the early 1990s through provincial legislation and market-based forest certification schemes to advance the aims of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). These committees aimed to incorporate a broad range of stakeholder and rightsholder perspectives and social values into forest management planning processes. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of these committees in advancing contributions to SFM, and to better understand what factors characterize their effectiveness. In particular, this research focused on understanding the perspectives of the forest companies and provincial governments that sponsor committees and are responsible for the uptake of committee recommendations in decision-making. This thesis adopted a mixed methods approach, building on quantitative data collected through a national survey of FACs in 2016. Qualitative methods were used to explore the effectiveness of selected committees, including telephone interviews with committee sponsors and more indepth case study of two committees in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The study found an emphasis on process, rather than outcomes, in participants’ characterizations of committee effectiveness. Limited evidence was found of contributions to SFM, though commitees were more influential on outcomes related to local issues such as access and recreation in the forest. The strategic importance of committees for planning and certification purposes was also revealed. Implications for public forest governance in Canada were considered, along with recommendations moving forward.application/pdfsustainable forest managementpublic participationforest advisory committeesThesis2019-09-18