Current pathways towards good forest governance for ecosystem services in the former Soviet republic Tajikistan

• A generic framework which extends existing forest governance schemes by introducing ecosystem services is elaborated
• Current pathways towards good forest governance for ecosystem services are described
• The newly established forestry sector structure is a first step forward towards good forest governance
• Many challenges in the forestry sector are yet to overcome and forest ecosystem services can be important contributors
• Application of the framework and relevance of the study results are highlighted

As one of the former Soviet republics, Tajikistan is facing a slow transition from a communist command-and-control system to a more market oriented, decentralized and participatory forestry. In the last 25 years, the country's forestry sector has undergone several reorganizations. In the process of a current reform, the overall aim of this study is to gain a broader understanding of the current state of forest sector in Tajikistan. Our specific objectives are a) to describe the current institutional network's complexity, (b) to analyze stakeholders' perceptions on the key challenges towards good forest governance, (c) and give recommendations to tackle the key challenges, so that important forest ecosystem services (ES) may be enhanced, thus, also contribute to the development of the sector. We elaborate a generic framework, which simplifies complex interaction of governance and forests ecosystem services. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire-based interviews with stakeholders of the forestry sector. The results indicate that the forestry sector is still far from representing good forest governance, however the newly established structure seems to be a first step. Yet, challenges in establishing sound legal frameworks, decision-making transparency, and implementation enforcement must still be overcome. While it is too early and challenging to assess the impacts of forest governance on ES and vice versa, the survey respondents highlight the importance of provisioning services for the development of the forest sector. Given the post-Soviet background, almost all member countries developed along similar lines. Therefore, the study results are not only of significance for Tajikistan, but also countries with similar history and socio-economic context.