Abstract
Transparent and participatory decision making in solving complex forest management problems are fostered by numerous forest
policies. Thus, all relevant stakeholders should be involved in the process of evaluating forest road options from the early stages
of planning. However, participatory tools are not yet used as a matter of course in the Romanian forest sector. This study aimed
to stress the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in decision making in the forest sector. A survey (n=27) was
conducted for prioritizing stakeholders’ preferences on criteria and sub-criteria used in the assessment of forest road options.
ANOVA and post-hoc tests were performed for analysing the statistical significance of responses and possible patterns of
stakeholders’ behaviour. Accessibility for performing forest works, protection of ecologically important areas and road
construction costs were identified as the most relevant evaluation sub-criteria. The results showed stakeholders are aware of the
environmental impacts of forest roads, while they show yet little concern for risks of accidents and other social factors. In respect
to certain criteria, a tendency of homogenous clustering of expertise groups’ opinions was noted, the groups with forestry
backgrounds behaving differently than those with environmental or tourism backgrounds. The outcomes of this study are useful
for practitioners willing to approach complex decision problems like forest road network planning or selection of timber
harvesting systems from a multidimensional perspective.