Forest Management in the Republic of Croatia
In General
1.
In the Republic of Croatia, out of the total land area (5,659,400 ha), forests and forest lands amounts to 2,759,039.05 ha (which is almost 49%), and out of that area of forests and forest land, the area administrated and managed by Croatian Forests Ltd. is 2,024,460.62 ha (which is almost 36% of the land territory of the Republic of Croatia) with a growing stock of 315,848,684 m3, and an annual forest increment of 7,495,075 m3.The structure of forests and forest lands managed by the state company Croatian Forests Ltd according to the forest purpose is as follows: commercial forests – 981,665.33 ha with growing stock of 230,385,021 m3 and annual increment of 5,505,587 m3, special purpose forests – 392,163.95 ha with growing stock of 66,121,243 m3 and annual increment of 1,552,145 m3, protective forests – 650,631.34 ha with a growing stock of 19,342,420 m3 and an annual increment of 437,343 m3.
The Natura 2000 ecological network of the Republic of Croatia covers 36.67% of the land territory and 16.26% of the territorial sea and internal sea waters, ie 29.34% of the total area of the Republic of Croatia.
2.
The importance of forests in the Republic of Croatia is shown by the fact that they are protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, Article 52, which states that forests are together with other goods which are determined by law to be of interest to the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, the same article of the Constitution states that the law will determine the manner in which goods of interest to the Republic of Croatia may be used and exploited. Also, Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia states, among other things, that the preservation of nature and the human environment, as well as the rule of law, are the highest values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia states that everyone is obliged to abide by the Constitution and rule of law, and to respect the legal order of the Republic of Croatia.
The Forest Act states that forests and forest lands are goods of interest to the Republic of Croatia and have its special protection.
It is also stated that the manner of management, administration, use and disposal of forests and forest lands must be based on the principles of sustainable management, economic and environmental acceptability, and social responsibility. The Forest Act states that the Government of the Republic of Croatia manages forests and forest lands in the interest of the Republic of Croatia, and according to the principle of publicity, predictability, efficiency and responsibility, by entrusting its management rights to the state administration body responsible for forestry, ie. the Ministry of Agriculture.Then, the Ministry on the basis of the Law on Forests as well as other laws, through the appointed Management Board of the company (President of the Management Board and two members of the Management Board) implements forestry policy based on the National Forest Strategy and Forest Management Plans.
3.
In order to implement the pan-European criteria for sustainable forest management and to respect the general interest in forest management, forest owners are obliged, among other things, to manage forests in accordance with forest management plans. Forest management plans are basic documents for the management and use of forests and forest lands in the Republic of Croatia, which determine the conditions for sustainable forest and forest land management and interventions in that area, the required amount of forest cultivation and protection, possible degree of utilization and conditions for wildlife management.
Forest Management Plans include but are not limited to the following:
Forest management plan of the territory of the Republic of CroatiaFor the management units outside of the ecological network area we have Management Basis of the management unitFor the management units inside of the ecological network area we have Management Program of the management unit which is Management Basis to which the Ecological Network Area Management Plan is added.
Duration of Forest Management Plans:
The Forest Management Plan plans interventions on forests and forest lands of the forest management area for a period of ten years (I / 1 management half-period), plans sustainability of revenue from fellings for the next ten years (I / 2 management half-period) and for the next 20 years (II management period) and is renewed every ten years. The Management basis prescribes interventions on forests and forest lands of the management unit of the public forest owner and the Institution for a period of ten years (I / 1 management half-period), plans sustainability of revenue from fellings for the next ten years (I / 2 management half-period) and for the next 20-year management period, and is renewed every 20 years with a revision every 10 years.
The Management program of the management unit with the Ecological Network Area Management Plan prescribes interventions on forests and forest lands, analysis of the condition of target species and habitat types of the ecological network area, management and conservation goals of target species and habitat types, conservation measures, activities to achieve goals and indicators for management units of public forest owners and private forest owners for a period of ten years (I / 1 management half-period), and plans the sustainability of revenue from fellings for the next ten years (I / 2 management half-period) and for the next 20 years (II management period), with a revision every 10 years.
The Ministry of Agriculture approves the forest management plan, its renewal or revision by a decision in the following ways: for forests and forest lands owned by the Republic of Croatia at the proposal of the public forest owner, Institution or Legal Entity, and for forests of private forest owners at the proposal of the Office.
The producer (Croatian Forests Ltd) is responsible for the accuracy of the professional data (area, growing stock, increment, fellings amount, regulation of silvicultural works) stated in the Forest Management Plan.
4.
As the management, according to the regulations of the Management Basis of the management unit is strictly limited to 10 years, Croatian Forests Ltd are obliged to compare the condition of forests in the management unit with the recorded condition at the beginning of the previous ten-year management period, and its condition after the end of the ten-year management period, before the validity of the new Management Basis.In the so-called Table of Accounting Control, they are obliged to record the initial state of forests, performed felling, possible changes in the area, etc. and to calculate what is the current state of the forests and with what amount of growing stock they continue to operate in the next decade.
Only after the calculation control table is made, the forest is measured, and the condition is checked in situ, which, if all parameters are entered, should be almost identical to the one shown by the aforementioned calculation.
