Croatian Forests Ltd Deceive the Public
Manipulating Data on the State of Forests
1.
On May 20, 2021, on the pages of the official gazette, Croatian Forests Ltd published an article entitled The State of Forests and Forest Land in the last 30 years, signed by mr.sc. Dubravko Janeš, employee of Croatian Forests Ltd.
In the introductory part of the text, the author says:
“Despite the fact that in the past 30 years there have been various legal changes, it should be objectively acknowledged that the area under forests as well as growing stock managed by Croatian Forests Ltd have grown. The constant increase of growing stock, the inclusion of large areas of forests and forest lands in the area of the ecological network, declaration of protected forests, and inclusion in the areas of national parks are all proofs of their quality, their state of preservation, and proper and sustainable management by the Croatian Forests Ltd.“
A detailed analysis of the published text and data leads to devastating results, which are well-disguised by manipulation to the average lay reader:
In the tables attached to the text, the editor states that in the time interval 1991-2021, the growing stock increased by 21%, ie. from 264,574,500 m3 to 319,013,300 m3.
If both the time period and the quantitative increase are taken into account, then, according to the editors’ data, realistic statistical data is obtained, which is that the average annual increase in growing stock was only 0.7%!
But that’s not all. Actual and real data that can be compared derive exclusively from the ratio of overgrown areas and growing stock, and by comparison of the obtained data:
From the above, it is quite clear that the increase in growing stock, as stated by the editor, is not 21% but only 4.69%, and consequently, when the actual increase of 4.69% is divided by 30 years then the average annual increase in growing stock was only 0.16%!
According to the currently valid Business Plan of the area with a validity period from 2016 – 2025 the average annual forest increment in forests managed by Croatian Forests Ltd is 2.37%. According to the approximate calculation standard used by Croatian Forests Ltd
(2.37 x 30 = 71.1), follows that the average increase in growing stock should have been 71.1%, and reduced by the amount of cut-down wood volume in the specified period.
Assuming that the data of the article’s editor are correct, and taking into account all the comparative data from the table above, the result is the following: in the forests managed by Croatian Forests Ltd logging makes up a catastrophic 93% of the increment!
(77.1 – 4.69 = 66.41; 66.41 / 71.1 = 93%).
Taking into account that the increment is realized not only in commercial forests but also in protective forests and special-purpose forests, and the felling is mostly realized in commercial forests, it is almost certain that in commercial forests the felling is higher than the increment.
2.
On the same day, May 20, 2021, in the introductory text of the post on their official Facebook page, Croatian Forests Ltd states about the just-published article: State of Forests and Forest Land for the last 30 years, the following:
“In the last issue of our magazine, our reputable editor, who together with around hundred of his colleagues daily throughout the year only measures the forest, prepared an excellent text in which he recapitulated the changes in the forest fund in the first thirty years of Croatian Forests Ltd, and he said: there are roughly 260 thousand hectares more of overgrown areas… “.
Definitely, also here the editor states the wrong information. 260 thousand hectares is not an accurate figure. The exact number is 235 thousand hectares.
The Green Squad, through previous analyzes of the operations of Croatian Forests Ltd, found that in the vast majority of management units, during the calculation of new business plans, a significantly smaller amount of growing stock has been determined respect the quantity that should have been. So, the growing stock does not increase but constantly decreases from year to year because the felling is greater than the increment, and a good part of the wood volume resulting from felling greater respect to the increment “disappears” and is not registered in the official fiscal documents.
The official Facebook page of Hrvatske šume d.o.o. with the post containing incorrect information:
Article from the official gazette of Hrvatske šume d.o.o. of 20 May 2021:
