State forest administration performance in the Czech Republic: A case study of forestry legislation implementation in the South Bohemian Region

In the Czech Republic, the present state forest administration is incorporated into general state administration. Municipalities with extended competence (MECs) as first-instance forest administration bodies thus perform the so-called “mixed” administration. Besides forestry, MECs cumulatively perform hunting and fishing administration, observing several different laws. On an example of three MECs in South Bohemia (České Budějovice, Týn nad Vltavou and Písek), the paper analyses the decision-making processes and control activities concerning the implementation of administrative activity, particularly the Forest Act. The findings show that during the observed period 2011–2015, the most frequently conducted administrative proceedings under the Forest Act involved binding opinions regarding permission for buildings at a distance of fewer than 50 m from the forest and decisions on timber harvesting. Other frequently performed acts somewhat surprisingly concerned issuing licenses for professional forest managers and decisions whether or not the land fulfils forest functions. Based on the findings, the paper also suggests stimuli and suggestions (de lege ferenda) for changes in the Forest Act and other regulations relating to this issue.

Comparative analysis of regulatory framework related to private forest management in Slovenia and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Forest policy and forest ownership patterns in Slovenia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) have changed considerably in recent decades due to unprecedented scale of social, political and economic change. The distribution of ownership types varies between the countries – in Slovenia private forest ownership predominates (77%), while in FBiH only about 20% of forest is private-owned. In both countries, private forest properties are small-scale and fragmented, which affects management opportunities and the scale at which policy interventions need to be made. This paper analyses the Slovenian and Central Bosnia Cantonal Law on Forests to assess how the regulatory framework affects private forest owners’ (PFOs) rights, forest management and accelerates cooperation of PFOs. Both laws impose exclusive rights and responsibilities of PFOs, as well as limitation on how they can use their forests. In both countries, legislation contains detailed regulations for forest management activities and stipulate that mandatory forest management plans (FMPs) are an important tool that supports the implementation of sustainable forest management. In Slovenia, FMPs are prepared as common plans for all forests regardless the ownership, while in FBiH the Cantonal Law prescribes a separate forest management planning system for private forests. To improve the efficiency of private forest management, both laws support voluntary cooperation of PFOs. From the analysis, it can be concluded that there is a need for better harmonisation of public and private interests in relation to forest resources, especially in the case of FBiH, and that the deregulation of property right is needed as well as that the level of involvement of PFOs in the forest policy making process is unsatisfactory, in most cases only formal.

Theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis of international forest political processes by stakeholders´ perceptions at national level

Forests cover about 30% of the world´s land area and provide people and nature with essential ecosystem services and goods. Despite their importance, forests continue to be degraded. A variety of international forest governance and policy arrangements have developed to foster protection and sustainability of forests. However, number of studies point to nonexistence of a global forest policy regime per se, and growing institutional fragmentation of forest governance arrangements. In line with continuing priority of national sovereignty in the international regulation of forest policy, the role of domestic policies, mainly domestic forest policy actors, is considered central to international forest governance analysis by many researchers. The paper aimed to set the framework for the international forest policy analysis by domestic forestry stakeholders´ perceptions. The dimensions of Policy Arrangements Approach modified for purpose of meeting the nature of research, serve as theoretical foundations. In the first part, the paper aim to define dimensions theoretically. In the second part, specific international forest-focused political processes are described through adapted dimensions. The two steps serve as the basis for research to be subsequently applied in selected European countries.

Forest land tax reductions – an effective payment for forest ecosystem services in Slovakia?

Preferential land tax programs are used over 50 years and are mainly connected with nature protection and environmental goals. Nowadays, they are also considered as a way how to promote and support forest ecosystem services that arise from exempted forest land. In Slovak Republic national forest land tax reduction scheme exists for special purpose and protection forests, as well for other forests with special importance. The goal of the paper was to develop a multidimensional evaluation of this economic instrument for ecosystem service support in Slovakia. We evaluated how the forest land tax reduction fits into the payments for ecosystem services theory, which services are supported and what is the potential and implementation effectiveness according to theory of policy analysis. Even though, the forest owners and enterprises benefit from tax reductions, evidence regarding its visibility as payment for ecosystem service is low. Forest land tax reductions are considered as other economic incentive for ecosystem services support with moderate potential effectiveness. Despite the instrument have low visibility of FES supported from both sides – sellers and beneficiaries, its potential effectiveness is high, due its automatic and stable implementation without relevant implementation gaps.

Stakeholders and their view on forest-based bioeconomy in Slovakia

Within the concept of bioeconomy at Slovak level, forestry is often seen as a key sector. For that reason, the concept of forest-based bioeconomy gained a specific importance. To this concept is on the European level already paid increasing attention not only in research, but also in politics. Whether or not the forest-based bioeconomy will have a success in Slovakia is greatly dependent on stakeholders´ perception and attitude towards the concept. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify stakeholders´ perception of forest-based bioeconomy. To achieve this, we identified 13 stakeholders from various, bioeconomy-related, sectors that were suitable for qualitative interviewing. The respondents are representants of public and private organizations and are active in relevant areas. The study was conducted using structured interview consisting of 12 questions. Respondents in general tend to lean towards forest-based bioeconomy, as they feel that it brings more opportunities (for the forest and wood-processing sector, economy, industry, nature protection) than risks. However, a threat has presented itself during the study, being the fact that forest stakeholders do not feel to be sufficiently involved in bioeconomy discussion. For the bioeconomy to fulfil its role as an all-purpose weapon, there is an urgent need for more precise policy guidance and for involving of all relevant stakeholders into discussion.

Anchor of cultural forest services in the national forest policies of Central European countries

Forests and human connection with nature have a major impact on human health. Through exercise and recreation in the forest, people receive many benefits from forest ecosystem services (FES) which have a positive impact on their physical and mental health. The paper tackles two main goals i) the first one is an overview of existing literature related to human health and well-being derived from forests in the countries of Central Europe published in the Scopus database. ii) The second goal was to create an overview of policy instruments related to forest cultural services (FCS) in the forest policy documents of selected Central European countries (CEC). A partial goal of the research is to identify gaps and to find a focus of future research in the field of human forest well-being and FES. The results showed that on the national level there is a lack of guidelines for culture services and their anchor in legislative documents. A challenge for the anchor of cultural services is to improve communication between different resort organizations and forest stakeholders. For future research is recommended to survey the forest impact on human health that would provide a base for creating a platform for policy tools related to FCS and help to set up recreation planning in European forests.

Gap regeneration and dynamics: the case study of mixed forests at Křtiny in the Czech Republic

Gap regeneration remains the best silviculture technique for sustainable forest regeneration in mixed forests. The study examined tree species composition, diversity and dynamics of natural regeneration in gaps under three contrasting forest stands at Křtiny in the Czech Republic. In spring 2013, experimental gap design begins, when semi-permanent 1 m2 circular sub-sampling plots along North-South-East-West transects were delineated under 6 selected natural canopy openings ≤ 20 m2. In winter 2013/14, these naturally originated openings were artificially enlarged to the current gap sizes ranging between 255 and 1149 m2 through group felling. Natural regeneration in gaps was measured four times: from the growing season before disturbance (BD) in 2013 to the next three consecutive growing seasons after disturbance in 2014 – 2016, respectively. Seven (7) new species with light demanding growth strategy that were previously not present at mother stands were occurring there during the first growing season after disturbance (FGS), yielding the highest taxa (14 species) and diversity (Shannon diversity index, H = 1.7) while BD attained the lowest (8 species; H = 0.9), respectively. Study site being part of Fagus sylvatica vegetation community and providing favorable natural conditions for the optimal growth of Picea abies significantly explains the regeneration dominance of these species in gap regeneration from BD until the third growing season after disturbance (TGS), respectively. Small scale gap-disturbance contributed to the higher regeneration densities of all studied species during FGS. However, drought, competition from other life forms, and browsing activities substantially caused a progressive decline in natural regeneration during three consecutive years after disturbance.

Quarter of a century of forest fertilization and liming research at the Department of Silviculture in Prague, Czech Republic

Fertilization and liming began to be used in forestry at the beginning of the 20th century in order to increase growth, for improvement of health status or higher resistance to biotic and abiotic factors. The review summarizes results of 48 studies of forest fertilization, nutrition and liming published in scientific journals by authors of Department of Silviculture in Prague over the past more than 20 years. They deal mainly with monitoring of the effect of fertilization and liming applied during planting or shortly after planting of 18 tree species. Moreover, the results of fertilization in older stands are presented. Separate chapters deal with enhancing substrates (soil conditioners and phytohormones). All forest vegetation ranges are covered, from lowland forests to the subalpine belt of grass vegetation in 11 Natural Forest Areas. Forest fertilizing and liming proved beneficial according to most of the studies. The use of fertilizers can be detected in soils after decades. On the other hand, only in a minority of cases was fertilization reflected in the chemistry of the assimilation apparatus and other parts of the trees for a longer period. The main positive effect of fertilization and liming was increase of tree growth and foliation and decrease of mortality and yellowing symptoms. Inconsistent results were documented in some cases, especially for brassinosteroids and alginite compared to good results in slow release fertilizer done by spot-application. The type of product, concentration, time and method of application play an important role in the appropriate use of fertilization and liming.

Spatial resolution of unmanned aerial vehicles acquired imagery as a result of different processing conditions

Increasing availability of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and different software for processing of UAV imagery data brings new possibilities for on-demand monitoring of environment, making it accessible to broader spectra of professionals with variable expertise in image processing and analysis. This brings also new questions related to imagery quality standards. One of important characteristics of imagery is its spatial resolution as it directly impacts the results of object recognition and further imagery processing. This study aims at identifying relationship between spatial resolution of UAV acquired imagery and variables of imagery acquiring conditions, especially UAV flight height, flight speed and lighting conditions. All of these characteristics has been proved as significantly influencing spatial resolution quality and all subsequent data based on this imagery. Higher flight height as well as flight speed brings lower spatial resolution, whereas better lighting conditions lead to better spatial resolution of imagery. In this article we conducted a study testing various heights, flight speeds and light conditions and tested the impact of these parameters on Ground Resolved Distance (GRD). We proved that from among the variables, height is the most significant factor, second position is speed and finally the light condition. All of these factors could be relevant for instance in implementation of UAV in forestry sector, where imagery data must be often collected in diverse terrain conditions and/or complex stand (especially vertical) structure, as well as different weather conditions.

Effect of game browsing on natural regeneration of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests in the Krušné hory Mts. (Czech Republic and Germany)

Tree damage by game browsing is one of the biggest threats to forest ecosystems at the time of climate change and large-scale forest disturbances. The aim of the paper was to determine the effect of browsing by ungulates on the diversity, abundance and species composition of natural regeneration in forest stands dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). The research was conducted on 10 permanent research plots in the Krušné hory Mts. in the Czech Republic and Germany. The density of natural regeneration was in the range of 23,300–114,100 recruits ha−1. A higher proportion of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia L.) was found in the regeneration compared to the mature stands. A total of 78% of recruits was damaged by browsing. The most frequently damaged tree species were sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.; 98%) and black alder (Alnus glutinosa [L.] Gaertn.; 97%), while Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst; 31%) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea [Matt.] Liebl.; 50%) were the least affected. Seventy-nine percent of European beech recruits were damaged. The game significantly reduced the height of regeneration by up to 40%, especially by terminal browsing. Browsing also negatively affected the quality and abundance of regeneration. For successful dynamics of species-rich natural forest ecosystems, it is necessary to minimize tree damage by game browsing. These main measures include the reduction of ungulate population levels and the optimization of their age structure and sex ratio, an increase in the number of overwintering enclosures and food fields for game and a change in the political approach to game management with sufficient consideration of forestry interests.