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Silviculture

The close-to-nature principle

The close-to-nature principle and sustainability in designing forest development have been leading forestry for more than 50 years and we keep to this tradition. The speciality of Slovenian forests lies in small-area forest treatment, where we pay attention down to the smallest detail in forest ecosystems and to external influence and interests that affect forest development. Irrespective of their ownership, all forests are given the same attention. The planning process is not finished with forest management planning. Strategic decisions on directing forest development in a forest management plan form the basis for implementational silvicultural planning used for planning immediate activities in the concrete forest.

Silvicultural planning

Silvicultural planning is the link between forest management planning and carrying out work in forests. Up to a tenth of silvicultural plans are annually updated or renewed in Slovenia, ie approximately for 100 thousand hectares of forests. These plans form the basis for all activities carried out in forests for directing forest development.

Our special attention is given to forest regeneration when life of a tree begins that may last for decades or even centuries. Slovenian forestry is outstanding in the preservation of forest type structure. Mistakes made in this development period may long be incorrigible, therefore this process requires our special attention. As many as 99.5 % of forests are regenerated naturally, which is a guarantee of the ecological stability of the forest.
Only exceptionally is forest regeneration carried out by planting seedlings or sowing seeds, which is only an addition to natural regeneration and is carried out in cases when in forests, damaged by the rigours of the weather, it is necessary to accelerate ground growth, when the heritage of the past, ie spruce culture, started decades ago, has to be regenerated with a more natural tree species structure, suited to the site, and also in cases when a forest develops in a very particular way and there is no adequate seed production or no possibility of natural seeding of appropriate tree species. In these cases we regenerate forests by planting seedlings of sowing seeds of forest tree species, suited to individual sites. In the structure of seedlings there is a half of deciduous trees ( mostly beech, oak, ash, maple, and cherry seedlings) and a half of coniferous trees (mostly spruce and larch), altogether more than twenty different species of trees. More than a million seedlings of forest trees are planted every year and they are provided by the Slovenia Forest Service. To ensure the proper source of planting material there are more than two hundred selected seed stands registered in Slovenia where seed production is monitored. We send information about seed production to tree nurseries, supervise collecting of seed and issue attestations that guarantee the right origin.

To ensure undisturbed supply of suitable seeding material, the Slovenia Forest Service runs a seed bank, where reserves of seed are kept to grow seedlings for years with no adequate seed production.

Forest development

Forest development is directed throughout life, from an individual tree to the whole forest ecosystem. By tending we direct the development of a young forest from its beginnings to the grown-up stage. In the development stage of seedlings, ie in two or three decades, we carry out tending at least three to four times. By tending the young forest in Slovenia we direct the development in the area of 1 % of all forests annually. In nature selection is constantly made by eliminating less vital, less healthy and to the site less adapted trees. Forest tending is based on the principle of selecting trees according to the criteria of vitality, adaptability to the site, role in the ecosystem, health condition and quality. According to the same principle we also direct the forest development in adult forests by selecting trees for possible cut, which is done by district foresters in all forests regardless of their ownership, in co-operation with forest owners and on the basis of forest management and silvicultural plans. The selection of trees for possible cut is annually realized by felling of approximately three million cubic metres of wood mass.

Realisation of silvicultural work

Realisation of silvicultural work is the responsibility of the owner. Among the most important fields of activities of a district forester is co-operation with forest owners in the form of advising, educating and training for carrying out professional work of silviculture and forest protection. The most effective in this are direct contacts with owners, but besides, more than 100 seminars and workshops are organized by the Slovenia Forest Service annually to educate forest owners.
Nature and administrative procedures are two different notions, but nevertheless for all activities of silviculture (including selection of trees for possible felling) and of forest protection, the Slovenia Forest Service issues administrative decrees for forest owners (64,144 decrees in 2004). Forest owners, despite the proved benefit for the forest, are not eager enough for long-term investments in forests, such as tending the young forest. Work and financial resources intended for forest are the investment that mostly they will not benefit from themselves. Therefore, and also due to the public interest in generally useful roles of the forest, the system of financing and co-financing investments in forests has been established from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia and the European funds, which enables forest owners who manage their forests according to the plans, to obtain some resources once their work is finished. Activities performed in forests are annually planned and regarding necessity and urgency they figure in the annual realization programme. All this great work of investing in forests, done by their owners, is directed by district foresters in their direct contacts with forest owners. Their help and guidance range from professional advice and practical demonstrations to work accounts and records by which we control the realization of what has been planned.