Forestry
AREA OF THE FOREST LAND FUND
The area of forest land and forest stands has been long-term increasing in Slovakia.
In 2020, the area of forest stands reached 1,951.5 thousand ha, since 1990 thus increasing (mainly through land-use change) by 29.8 thousand ha, i.e. 1.55 %. The average annual increase was 993 ha. In addition to forests on forest land, there is also a certain percentage of agricultural and other land overgrown by forest vegetation (so-called „white plots“) in the SR. The total area of these plots is estimated at 288,000 ±39,000 ha. The forest cover, calculated as the percentage of forest land out of the total area of the SR, reached 41.3% in 2020. If the area of „white plots“ were included, the forest cover would be 45.7% ± 0.9%. According to the State of Europe’s Forests report (FOREST EUROPE), the SR was the 13th most forested country in Europe.
Forest land, area of forest stands (1,000 ha) and forest cover (%)
Source: National Forest Centre (hereinafter referred to as: NFC), Forestry Case Studies 55/1999.
FOREST STRUCTURE
In Slovakia, the most common type of forests are broadleaved and mixed forests. Their area annually increases. The present age structure of forests is unbalanced that contributes to cyclical changes in the provision of certain forests ecosystem services
During their history, because of varying altitude, length of vegetation season, as well as temperature and precipitation patterns, forests of the SR evolved into eight altitudinal vegetation zones (AVZ), from the oak zone to the dwarf-pine zone. In each altitudinal zone, there can be several basic site types (fertile, oligotrophic, nitric, damp, waterlogged, exposed, protective, etc.) reflecting soil, water and terrain patterns. Due to a great diversity of natural conditions and habitats, Slovak forests have a very rich and varied tree species composition, age and spatial structures
Percentage of conifers and broadleaves in forest stands of the SR in 2020 (%)
Source: NFC 2021.
STATE ADMINISTRATION ON FORESTS
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic (MARD SR) the supreme national authority on forests. At the district level, there are eight departments dealing with forestry attached to district offices in regional centres and forty-nine Land and Forestry Departments based at district offices. Military forests are managed by the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic. Work of SAF authorities is regulated by forest-related legislation including the Act on forests, the Act on forest reproductive material, the Acton land associations, etc. The Slovak Forestry and Timber Industry Inspection supervises timber trading at a national level and, through its procedures, ensures that timber and timber products imported to Slovakia from countries outside the EU originate from legal felling.
OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS
State forest enterprises manage 993,400 ha of forest stand area (50.9%), of which 781,500 ha is in the state ownership. The remaining area of forest stand area (958,100 ha) is managed by non-state enterprises which own and manage private, municipal, church and community forests as well as forests of agricultural cooperatives.
Ownership and management of forests in 2020 (ha, %)
Source: NFC 2021.
Structure of forest managers 1920-2020 (%)
Source: NFC 2021.
SECTORS ASSOCIATED WITH FORESTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
European network of protected areas (PAs) NATURA 2000 consists of two partially overlapping networks: special protection areas (bird species) and sites of Community importance (other species and selected habitat types) presently includes 951,000 ha of forest stands. NATURA 2000 sites protect 29.8% of the area of the SR, while the EU average is 18.2%. Large-scale and small-scale PAs of the national network cover 784,000 ha of forest stands. The overlap between NATURA 2000 both networks is around 578,000 ha of forest stand area. So far, 20 management programs for SPAs have been approved; a further 21 are pending approval. The approval of programs for other PAs is also underway. It is an urgent task necessary to specify the objectives of protection and measures in individual PAs.
Forests by a level of protection
Source: ME SR, 2021, NFC-FRI Zvolen 2021.
Source: GREEN REPORT - REPORT ON THE FOREST SECTOR OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC 2020