The perception of an image of the state forest enterprise by general public in chosen region of the Slovak Republic

This paper deals with the comparison of the general public perception and the opinion of state forest managers on image of the state forest enterprise. The research was organised during the period 2015–2019. One group of respondents involved all managers of 23 sub-enterprises of state forest enterprise Lesy SR. The other group consisted of 384 respondents representing the general public residing in the Banská Bystrica region. Structured questionnaire with one open and 16 closed questions was applied for data collection with a help of electronic means. Collected data were processed with descriptive (particularly frequency analysis) and two-dimensional statistical methods. The results of the image inquiry aimed at three issues: (i) perceptions of the forest management effectiveness of the state versus non-state forest enterprises, (ii) perception of marketing strategy and its tools of the state forest enterprise, and (iii) comparison between public awareness/experience with public relations activities of the state forest enterprise.

Institutional Analysis of Protection Forest Area Land Use Pattern in the North Bandung Area, Bandung Regency

Land use degradation has always been a problem for forest areas. Numerous past studies have investigated that there are patterns in the forest area's land use management that support forest sustainability and society's economy. This research aims to identify the action arena and patterns of interaction, to describe the outcomes of the two land use patterns, and to formulate the strategy related to forest area land use pattern in North Bandung Area, Bandung Regency. This research used Institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework as the research method. The identified action arena includes the pattern of commodity and profession transfer. The actors involved were State-owned Forest Enterprises (Perum Perhutani), Village Administrations, forest extensions, Forest Village Community Association (FVCA), and Forest and Farm Producers Organization (FFPO). The most dominating actor in land use activities in both patterns was Perum Perhutani, along with FVCA and FFPO. The pattern of interaction that exists between actors was prospering with only minor problems found within its coordination system. The outcome of the application of these two patterns, among others, is to raise public awareness in conserving forests and improving the community's economy. The land management strategy for forest areas can be directed using the Penta helix concept.

ANALYSIS OF THE SAFETY AND HEALTH STATUS AT THE WORK OF WORKERS OF THE FOREST INDUSTRY OF UKRAINE AND MEASURES FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT

Development of scientifically sound measures for the prevention of occupational injuries based on the analysis of data on occupational injuries, including fatal in the forestry sector of Ukraine, to identify the main causes of such injuries. Based on the analysis, it was established that the level of occupational injuries in the forest industry was in one of the first places among all sectors of the economy of Ukraine. A step-by-step decision-making process was used to develop an algorithm for making managerial decisions. It was found that the accidents occurred mainly due to violations of safety requirements by employees, lack of control by officials of forest enterprises over the organization of safe work and due to violations of the technological process. The study was based on actual statistics of the State Labor Service on occupational injuries in the forestry sector. It is stated that the situation around the enterprises of the forest industry cannot be radically corrected without the introduction of an effective labor protection management system with elements of assessment and management of industrial risks. The obtained theoretical conclusions, based on statistical data on occupational injuries, have been brought to the level of specific proposals suitable for practical use in the planning of preventive measures for labor protection in the field of forestry. The necessity of actualization and improvement of normative-legal acts in the field of forestry is substantiated. The adoption of the "Minimum requirements for the safety and health of workers in forestry and greenery" is justified, which will expand the scope, namely: legal relations will be regulated by the type of work, and not just apply to economic entities who carry out certain activities; it is proposed to introduce a "labor safety coordinator".

Biological control of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) by the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga in Bulgaria in 2021

In 2021, biological control programme against gipsy moth (Lymantria dispar) populations was carried out by introduction of the entomopathogenic fungus Entomophaga maimaiga on the territory of four State Forest Enterprises: Municipal Enterprise (ME) ‘Management of Municipal Forests, Agriculture and Forestry’, Nessebar; State Game Enterprises (SGE) Nessebar and Balchik; State Forestry (SF) Vidin. The pathogen was introduced during the period 15-26.03.2021 in 34 localities - five in ME Nessebar, eight in SGE Nessebar, ten in SGE Balchik and eleven in SF Vidin. The average number of gypsy moth population density in the locations of introduction was relatively high, ranging between 0.4-15.9 egg mass/tree in the area of ​​SGE Balchik and 11.9-65.0 egg mass/tree in the area of ​​ME Nessebar. The average mortality of young gypsy moth caterpillars (first-third instar) due to E. maimaiga varied between 2.6% (SGE Balchik) and 13.0% (SF Vidin), and of caterpillars in later fourth-sixth instar - between 20.7% (SF Vidin) and 52.4% (ME Nessebar). The overall mortality of the gipsy moth caterpillars due to E. maimaiga was lowest in the region of SGE Balchik (26.1%), followed by SF Vidin (33.7%), SGE Nessebar (48.5%) and ME Nessebar (55.9%). As a result of the introduction, gipsy moth severe outbreaks in the region of Nessebar was significantly suppressed. The high number of E. maimaiga resting spores persists in the surface layers of the soil in the other two areas (Vidin and Balchik) has the potential to suppress L. dispar attacks in next years.

Introducing a New Approach in Stand Tending Planning and Thinning Block Designation by Using Mixed Integer Goal Programming

Long-term management plans have been developed for nearly all of the forests in Turkey. These plans are applied at a sub-district management unit level and may contain guidance for both intermediate yield and final yield harvests. To implement an intermediate yield plan, which involves the scheduling of forest thinnings (stand tending), consideration in Turkey is given to the advantages of working in the same terrain and the same general area each year. Therefore, compartments are often clumped together to create thinning blocks, taking into consideration the thinning priority of the stands, road conditions, site index, age, and proximity of the compartments. Further, when preparing annual budgets and planning to meet the market’s needs, forest enterprises require an even flow of intermediate wood volume each year. In this paper, we introduce a new approach in stand tending planning designed to schedule an equal amount of intermediate wood volume each year and to create thinning blocks by minimizing the distance to pre-defined ramps (landings). We developed both linear and nonlinear goal programming models to minimize both the deviations from a harvest volume (annual intermediate yield allowable cut) target and the deviations from a target value determined for the distances (total and average) of the centroid of each compartment to the hypothetical forest ramps. By using the extended version of Lingo 16, we solved the problem with different weights for the deviations in volume and distance that ranged from 0.0 to 1.0, in 10% intervals, which created 11 scenarios. We carefully analyzed the results of each scenario by taking into consideration the wood volume and distance of compartments to the ramps. The best scenario using the linear model produced a deviation in volume scheduled for the entire decade of 6 m3, while the deviation in total distance between harvest areas and ramps was 59.7 km. Scenario 5, with weights of 0.6 for volume and 0.4 for distance, produced these results, where compartments were closest to one another. The best scenario using the nonlinear model also produced a deviation in volume of 0 m3 and the total average deviation in distance between harvest areas and ramps was 8.7 km. Scenario 3, with weights of 0.8 for volume and 0.2 for distance, produced these results. The approach and models described through this study may be appropriate for further integration into forest management planning processes developed for the planning of Mediterranean forests.

BIOFUELS: A RETURN TO THE PAST OR A MODERN RENEWABLE SOURCE OF BIOENERGY

The analysis of research on biofuels is presented. In connection with the forecast of the depletion of fossil sources for energy production and their adverse effects on the environment, research and practical work on the use of renewable resources for these purposes is being carried out in different countries. Plant biomass, wind, sun, hydro resources, geothermal waters, etc. are considered. According to some data, wood biomass in the European Union from all renewable sources in 2012 was 50%. Among the suppliers of wood biomass in the world, short- cropped plantations of fast-growing tree species (poplars, willows, etc.) are gaining popularity. The European Union has adopted a plan to create 70,000 hectares of such plantations. In the Central Chernozem region of Russia, research on the creation and evaluation of the effectiveness of short- rotation plantations began in the mid-90s of the twentieth century. Studies have shown that on a plantation of Robusta poplar at the age of 4 years, with a 2-year rotation and a planting density of 20 thousand plants per 1 ha, the annual increase in absolutely dry biomass can be 11.5 t/ ha/year. After a long break due to the difficulties of the 1990s, these works were resumed only in 2015-2016. In accordance with the developed program, work has begun on the creation and research of experimental facilities both on the territory of Research Institute of Forest Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology and on the lands of industrial forest enterprises. The best results on the growth of poplars in the reproductive areas were obtained in the Kulikovsky forestry of the Lipetsk region, where the annual shoots of poplars ‘Voronezh Giant’ and P. trichocarpa at the root-cutting plantation reached an average height of 157-183 cm.

Assessment of the innovative potential of the timber enterprises in the Russian Ural region

The development and implementation of innovations are becoming integral functions of a modern industrial enterprise. The author has developed an author’s approach to assessing the innovation potential of forest enterprises through the analysis of financial sustainability and the ability to cover their own liabilities to achieve competitive advantages. The methodological research toolkit uses the competitiveness rating of economic entities of the timber industry complex of the Ural region, formed according to several economic indicators of the market segment occupied by the enterprise, the quality of its products, innovation activity and its efficiency, the degree of financial support, innovative research projects and the availability and effectiveness of facilities, as the resulting indicator. The economic profit indicator used to assess the effectiveness of enterprises is positive if the enterprise has managed to earn more than the profitability of similar enterprises, i.e. the enterprise implements innovative projects, which in turn bring additional competitive advantages. The developed approach makes it possible to identify and evaluate the most significant elements of the innovative potential of the enterprise on the basis of the rating assessment, thus allowing to take into account the specific features of the enterprise and its operating conditions.