Forest functions in multi-objective forest management : doctoral dissertation
Funkcije gozda v načrtovanju večnamenske rabe gozdnega prostora : doktorska disertacija

english

doktorska dela

2016

Slovenia    Central Europe 

Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehniška fakulteta

We studied the importance of forest function areas and other priority areas for multi-objective forest management. The study was divided into three parts. First, we compared priority areas between the Pacific Northwest of the USA (PNW) and Central Europe (CE) by developing a conceptual framework of six dimensions (primary purpose, importance and spatial distribution of objectives, governance, permanency, spatial scale, and management regime). Secondly, we analysed the concept of forest functions in CE with a comprehensive literature overview and in-depth interviews of forestry experts. Thirdly, we evaluated the effectiveness of forest function areas in Slovenia using an on-line survey (n=162) and a participatory workshop (n=66) for forestry experts. Improvements to the concept of forest functions applied in Slovenia were captured in two alternative models (technical, conceptual), which were tested in three case study areas and evaluated by forestry experts (n=65). We confirmed that the importance of priority areas differs among the regions, especially prioritization of management objectives (mainly segregation in PNW; mainly integration in CE). The main differences among CE countries include the types of forest functions, ranking of importance, proportion of designated area and management measures associated with the selected functions. There was strong support for both technical and conceptual improvements of the concept of forest functions in Slovenia, such as fewer forest function types, prioritization of functions in the same area, less area under designation, prioritizing areas for adjusted management regimes, implementation of management measures through projects and contracts and greater participation of the public and forest owners.

11.05.2016