Aussagen, Zielsetzungen und politische Massnahmen von privaten Naturschutzorganisationen in bezug auf Wald und Forstwirtschaft. Ein Beitrag zum Verstaendnis der Rolle von Interessengruppen in der schweizerischen Forstpolitik.

Nature protection organisations with a nationwide activity, formerly having dealt with questions of forest policy, take part in political decision-making processes concerning the legal regulations of forest and forest economy. They try to intervene actively in the forest management. The traditional Swiss forest policy has only little knowledge about the goals and purposes of the different nature protection organisations and their financial, personnel and organisational resources, nor is there any particular knowledge about the institutions which influence the political system from whitin or from outside. The inquiry wants to fill this gap at least for the political area of forest and forest policy. Methodically, the inquiry is based on the system-theorical model of the general frame of modern industrial societies. The interest in forest economy is focussed on the interaction between the subsystems of the political system. Nature protection organisations are also active outside the political decision-making process. The opinions which nature protection organisations have towards the forest and its management by means of a content analysis of their official organs of communication are described. The interest groups are Swiss Alpine Club (founded 1863), League for the Preservation of Swiss Scenery (1905), Swiss League for Nature Protection (1909), Schweizerische Vereinigung fuer Gewaesserschutz und Lufthygiene VGL (1949), Rheinaubund, Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Natur und Heimat (1960), WWF Switzerland (1962), Aqua viva, Nationale Aktionsgemeinschaft zur Erhaltung der Fluesse und Seen (1970), Swiss Foundation for Landscape Conservation (1970) and Swiss Association for the Protection for Bird, BirdLife Switzerland (1988). The content analysis of the official organs of nature protection organisations proves their permanent and intense examination of questions concerning forest and forest management. Through their communication policy focussed on nature protection, they try to sensitize their members and particularly political decision-makers for the interests they represent and to suggest them solutions within their possibilities as political actors. Besides the technical discussion they also quite extensively bring up the more emotional and spiritual aspects of forest.