Protection forests

Slovenia is an alpine and extremely hilly country. A large proportion of forests therefore thrives on extreme sites with steep slopes, which limits their site potential, and at the same time determines their importance for protecting the soil from various forms of erosion. Such forests are called protection forests.

Protection forests are defined as forests that protect sites from all kinds of erosion processes, forests on steep slopes or water banks, forests that are exposed to strong winds, forests that retain rapid runoff in torrential areas and therefore protect land from erosion and landslides, forest belts that protect forests and land from wind, water, landslides, forests in agricultural and suburban landscape with that have very high importance for preserving biodiversity, and forests at the upper forest line.

Since the importance of protection forests is exceptional, they are declared by a government regulation - Degree on protection forests and special purpose forests. They were declared in 2005, with changes and additions every few years (Official Gazette of the RS, no. 88/05, 56/07, 29/09, 91/10, 1/13, 39/15, 191/ 20). The degree defines a specific management regime for protection forests and restrictions on interventions in these forests.

Management in protection forests is usually of very low intensity due to the demanding conditions, and uneconomical and dangerous implementation. The management of protection forests is an active process in which we adapt the management to extreme (more demanding) conditions by taking into account local specifics. If forest stands are left to natural development, their long-term stability and protective effects are reduced or threatened, so these forests must be managed in accordance with forest management plans. The objective for managing protection forests is to ensure the permanent and maximum functioning of the forests for protection function at minimal costs. The goal can be achieved by ensuring the appropriate state of the forest, appropriate management (harvesting) and additional (technical) measures.

In Slovenia, 98,828 ha of protection forests have been declared, which represents just over 8% of all forests.

Protection forests in Slovenia can be seen and downloaded here.