The forests of Slovenia reflect the country's attitude towards sustainable development. Slovenes strive to safeguard forests as ecosystems, their biotic importance and the protection of forest habitats, as well as the sustainable use and management of forest resources. Forest ecosystems in Slovenia make a significant contribution to the protection of soil, water and the climate; they are home to many plant and animal species and a place for people to relax. Forests are also an important economic factor, providing energy and many environmentally friendly jobs.
Slovenia is one of the most forested countries in Europe
Around 1.2 million hectares of forest, that is, 0.6 hectares per inhabitant, cover 58.2% of Slovenia's territory. The growing stock of Slovenia's forests amounts to 338 million cubic metres. Of this, 46.5% is coniferous and 53.5% broadleaved stock. The annual increment is approximately 8.5 million cubic metres. Logging, particularly in private forests, does not reach the allowable cut set out in forest management plans, standing at 70% of the allowable harvest and 40% of the current increment.
79% of forests are privately owned and 21% are owned by the state or municipalities. Large, unbroken state-owned forest holdings make efficient sustainable management possible, whereas private holdings are highly fragmented. The average size of a private forest property is around 2.9 ha, and each property is usually further divided into several separate parcels. It must be acknowledged that this fragmentation and the large number of owners (431,000) and co-owners hampers professional work and the optimal use of timber in private forests.
The importance of forests and forestry
In addition to the general benefits that forests provide, they can deliver lasting economic benefits to their owners and to society as a whole. Although the value of timber production and processing may never again account for as large a share of the country's gross domestic product as it once did, timber production and processing can still make a substantial contribution to the integrated development of society. In future, forests will also make a significant contribution to increasing the share of tourism in gross domestic product.
Forest management conditions in Slovenia
The Resolution on the National Forest Programme is the strategic framework document setting out national policy on sustainable forest management. The Resolution's main principles are aimed at conserving forests and securing their multifunctional role, covering environmental, social and economic aspects. The objectives of forestry are, in particular, to ensure the conservation and sustainable development of forests, taking into account biological diversity and all the ecological, social and productive functions of forests, and to preserve the natural environment and ecological balance. Under Slovenia's Forest Act, a forest owner must ensure the ecological, social and productive functions of the forest, and the forest must therefore be managed in accordance with forest management and silvicultural plans. Owners must also allow free access to their forests, as well as hunting and the gathering of non-timber goods in accordance with the rules in force.
To promote exemplary forest management, a state forest management company and a forest budget fund – the Slovenian Forest Fund – were established in 2016.
The state forest service
Public forestry services are provided by the Slovenia Forest Service and the Slovenian Forestry Institute. The activities of the state forest service are: monitoring the condition and development of forests; forest protection; directing the management of forests and of individual forest trees and groups of trees outside settlements; directing the construction and maintenance of forest roads; maintaining forestry records and databases; providing advice and training for private forest owners; producing forest seed, including collecting seed of forest and tree species in seed orchards; storing reserve quantities of seed of forest tree and shrub species; establishing and operating a seed bank; supplying planting stock of forest tree and shrub species; and monitoring activities in the forest where these are co-financed from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia.
Forestry measures in Slovenia
Five core forestry measures have been approved under the Rural Development Programme. The aim of the measure “Knowledge transfer and training activities” is to raise the level of knowledge about sustainable forest management, management in Natura 2000 areas and safe work in the forest. Investments in fixed assets are earmarked for the construction and reconstruction of forest roads, as well as the construction, reconstruction and preparation of mountain roads. Slovenian foresters also provide financial support for projects that increase the added value of timber, the conservation and development of natural and cultural heritage, and renewable energy sources. Through investments in the development of forest areas and in improving the viability of forests, Slovenes are encouraging the development of forest areas, restoration after natural disasters and investment in forest technologies.
Slovenia, a country in Central Europe, was for most of the 20th century part of Yugoslavia. Slovenia is a small (roughly three times smaller than Latvia), topographically diverse country made up of parts of four of Europe's major geographical landscapes – the European Alps, the karstic Dinaric Alps, the Pannonian and Danubian lowlands and hills, and the Mediterranean coast. Easily traversed mountain passes (now replaced by tunnels) crossing Slovenian territory have long served as routes between the Mediterranean and the mountain regions of Europe.
The Slovenes are a South Slavic people numbering two million. For most of its history Slovenia was under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs, who governed the Holy Roman Empire and its successors – the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary; parts of the Slovenian coast were for a time under the rule of Venice. After the Second World War, Slovenia, as part of Yugoslavia, spent most of the time under communist rule. After the Yugoslav federation broke up in 1991, a multi-party democratic political system took shape. Slovenia's economic boom at the end of the 20th century attracted hundreds of thousands of migrants from other Balkan countries. At the beginning of the 21st century Slovenia integrated economically and politically into Western Europe, joining NATO and the European Union in 2004. Slovenia's capital and largest city is Ljubljana (approx. 286,000 inhabitants).
Slovenia can be divided into three climatic zones. Istrian conditions show a transition from the Dalmatian coast's Mediterranean climate to a temperate continental climate. In the temperate zone the highest monthly rainfall comes in spring and autumn, and the highest temperatures, often exceeding 27 °C, occur in June and July. Winter temperatures rarely fall below 10 °C
Slovenia's flora reflects the country's physiographic diversity, and in particular its range of altitudes. In the highest mountains, below the tree line, junipers alternate with high meadows. Lower down there is a central belt of conifers and broadleaves – birch and beech – interspersed with pasture and arable land, and lower still other broadleaved species occur. At sea level along the Slovenian coast there is typical Mediterranean scrubland. Fauna: several animal species have been granted protected status. Alongside others of direct economic importance, these include the reintroduced – though still rare – deer, European brown bears, wild boar, red deer, fallow deer and roe deer. The lynx population has recovered in Slovenia. The sub-Pannonian habitats, meanwhile, are suitable for migratory birds and mountain birds.