Slovakia
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Slovakia
AREA: 49,035km2
POPULATION: 5,435,343
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Slovak
CAPITAL: Bratislava
POPULATION OF THE CAPITAL: 420,000
The Slovak Republic is situated in the heart of Europe. Slovakia is a small country with an area of 49,035 sqare km. Our borders are with the Czech Republic and Austria in the west, to the Hungary in the south, to the Poland in the north, to the Ukraine in the east. Slovakia has more than 5 millions inhabitants. The population density is 107 persons per one square kilometer. The official language is Slovak. The capital city of Slovakia is Bratislava and this beautiful city is situated right next to the river Danube.
The surface of Slovakia is predominantly mountainous but there are many plains in the south and in the eastern part too.The High Tatras are the only truly alpine mountains in Eastern Europe and one of the smallest high mountain ranges in the world. Slovakia has a lot of very rich mineral and thermal springs with healthy effects.
CONTACT
Mr Jozef Doczy
Head of the Division of Forest Property Management and Timber Processing
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic
T: +421 2 5926 6510
E: jozef.doczy@land.gov.sk
FOREST CATEGORIES
Given their primary functions, Slovak forests fall into three main categories: production, protecti on and special-purpose forests. All forests regardless of their category provide a whole host of different services and benefits (over 90 % of all forests are so-called polyfunctional forests). Most forests fall into the production category. Producti on forests cover 1.397 million ha, or 71.93 % of the total area of forest crop land. Their primary function is the production of high grade timber without compromising other important ecological and social functions, support for which is provided through appropriate management measures applied in the framework of integrated forest management.
Since 2000, the area of production forests has increased by 5.6%, but compared to 1980, their area has decreased by 5.4%. These dynamic changes reflect ever changing requirements for the designati on of new special-purpose forests. Forests with primarily an ecological nature to their services and benefi ts are designated as protection forests. Their primary function is determined by natural conditions. These forests are of high societal importance as they protect soils, water resources and infrastructure. The main management objective in these forests is to ensure sustainable fulfilment of their ecological services. Their area has been slowly increasing over the years and reached 335 900 ha (17.25%) in 2017.
Social and cultural functions are most important in forests, which due to their specific societal or group benefits, have been given the status of special-purpose forests. They are under special (functionally differenti ated) management with purposeful enhancement of one or more selected functions including water purification, recreation, nature conservation, spa & wellness, education & research, game husbandry, etc. The delivery of services and benefits associated with these functi ons restricts standard management practi ces in forests. The present area of special-purpose forests is 207 500 ha (10.67%). The area of these forests has reduced since 2000, mainly due to the exclusion of the sub-category of air pollution mitigati on forests from this category, but also due to lower interest of applicants for the designati on of these forests (they are designated based on the applicati on for the duration of the forest management programmes).
FOREST STRUCTURE
Slovak forests have a rather diverse tree species composition. The most abundant tree species include beech (33.6%), spruce (22.7%), and oaks (10.5%). The broadleaved species prevail and comprise 62.8% of Slovak forests. The percentage of conifers has steadily decreased which is most apparent in the case of spruce the presence of which, due to harmful agents, has declined by 3.6% since 2005.
GROWING STOCK AND IN FORESTS
The growing stock in Slovak forests is gradually increasing as indicated by trends and actual age structure of forests. In 2017, the growing stock reached 480.25 million m3 of timber inside bark. The average stock was 248 m3 of timber inside bark per ha. If growing stock by groups of tree species is assessed, we observe an increasing trend in the stock of broadleaved species volume of which reached 280.23 million m3 in 2017, an increase of 12.2% compared to 2010. Conversely, the growing stock of coniferous species has been gradually decreasing since 2010, mainly due to frequent calamitous events in coniferous forests (spruce forests in parti cular) caused by wind and followed by outbreaks of biotic harmful agents (bark beetles). The total current increment in 2017 reached 12.023 million m3 or 6.3 m3 per 1 ha of forest crop land.
FELLING OPERATIONS
The total volume of timber felled in 2017 reached 9.39 milion m3 . Compared to 2016, felling increased by 0.8%. Of the total felling, 58,9% of timber came from coniferous forests, 41.1 % from broadleaved forest. Of the total timber volume, 4.94 million m3 was felled due to natural disturbances and pests, of witch 89.9 % came from coniferous forest.
TIMBER INDUSTRY
The timber processing industry in Slovakia has processing capacities that are fully sufficient for the entire volume of harvested coniferous timber in Slovakia. The structure, size and location of particular processing facilities have been influenced by the development prior to 1990 and by the constructi on of large facilities in the last 2 decades. The largest processing units for conifer roundwood are Rettenmeier Tatra Timber s.r.o. Liptovský Hrádok, PRP s.r.o. Veľký Krtíš, Amico Drevo s.r.o. Oravský Podzámok, P.F.A s.r.o. Lozorno, and Spektrum s.r.o. Hliník nad Hronom. In 2017, almost 8.272 million m3 of raw timber was consumed in Slovakia.
INSTITUTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH FORESTRY
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic is top government body responsible for drafting and implementing laws and regulations in field agriculture and rural development in Slovakia.
The Ministry performs state administration within the scope of its remit, including specialised state supervision in the areas of agriculture and rural development and it directs, guides and inspects the performance of state supervision in the following areas in particular:
- protection and use of agricultural land and forest land,
- the functions of state administration in forestry and hunting,
- land consolidation, the fulfilment of restitution claims and the settlement of land ownership,
- the functions of state administration of irrigation systems, drainage systems, monitoring the quality of irrigation water, issuing the Agricultural Code of Conduct,
- plant varieties, animal breeds, plant health care and veterinary care including veterinary protection of state territory and control of the import and export of animals, animal and plant products, veterinary medicines, feed and plant protection products,
- official control of foodstuffs and animal feed and control of the quality of agricultural, food and tobacco products,
- technical control of agricultural and food machinery and equipment,
- aquaculture,
- commodity exchanges,
- provision of support in agriculture and rural development,
- issuing permits for the production of alcohol, its processing in distilleries and its marketing,
- the licensing of the production of tobacco products,
- the issuing of certification of authorisation to operate a public warehouse, approval of the business terms and conditions of a public warehouse, the keeping of a central register of storage accounts, the performance of control of public warehouses and the registration of goods receipts.
Contact :
Dobrovičova 12
812 66 Bratislava
Telephone Exchange: +421 2 59 266 111
Phone: +421 2 59 266 308, +421 2 592 66 270
SLOVAKIA – CHINA COOPERATION
SK-CN achievements background:
- Cooperative Agreement between Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) and National Forest Centre (signed in 2007, extension agreement signed in 2015 for a period of 5 years)
- Bilateral projects activities, transfer of knowledge, best practices, exchange visits, reports of the business trips published in Forestry Journal, articles, PhD students involvement
- Multilateral activities within China + CEEC network covering particular focus within coordination of the working group Forest wood machinery and equipment
- Horizontal cooperation activities following the challenges of ENRICH and ERICENA Centres of Excellence established in China
- Projects of Research and Development Cooperation Slovakia – China (SK-CN-NEWPROJECT-12400 Innovative methods for forest fire monitoring and forest change mapping by satellite remote sensing)
- Projects of Chinese applicant, cooperating CAF – Research Institute of Forest Resources Information Techniques (Study on Data Integration Technology for Forest Management Based on Remote-sensing and Ground-monitoring Sources)
- SK – CN exchange mobilities, reports published in the Forestry Journal
- LignoSilva project (H2020, Teaming scheme) implementation activities (specified within the LignoSilva Implementation Annex and Cooperative Agreement) with Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF)
- ATBIOMAP project (ESA), utilization of selected deliverables for SK-CN cooperation
- 0 project (H2020), involvement of SK-CN cooperation considered
- BIOEAST´s UP project (H2020), involvement of SK-CN cooperation considered
- WOODSCAN project (SK Research Agency), SK-C: CAF experts directly involved
SK – CN specific cooperation focus:
- Implementation of the 3D CT scanner into the chain of production and processing of wood in sawmills, laser cutting technology, business and investments opportunities
- Assortments model; Assortment procedure; Wood defect detection algorithms for 2D and 3D scanners, Information technology connection of 3D and 2D scanners and laser cutting technology in sawmill, Information systems connection between wood producer and wood processor, optimizing the yield of raw wood assortments
- Establishment of pilot line of innovation technologies (3D scanner – 2 D scanner – Laser cutting) as a model case for sawmill companies.
- Improvement of methods of inventory and forest monitoring based on remote sensing data from the economic as well as environmental aspects.
- Further enhancement of the current inventory methods and forest ecosystems monitoring in the means of more precise and economically effective data acquisition as well as modelling.
- Innovative methods for forest fire monitoring and forest change mapping by satellite remote sensing
- Data Integration Technology for Forest Management Based on Remote Sensing and Ground Monitoring Sources
SK – CN cooperation added value:
- Critical mass of high level scientists and technology developers adding value to existing knowledge
- Maintenance a high rate of exchange of qualified human resources, building new partnerships
- Dynamic role within the innovations development in the surrounding innovation system
- Achievement of high levels of international visibility and scientific connectivity
- Integration of complementary skills
- Extension of existing networks and building constructive partnerships with stakeholders interested in the given scope of the cooperation (H2020, China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation a Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), China + CEEC, Working group Forest wood machinery and equipment, interlinks to the Centres of Excellence established in China (ENRICH, ERICENA)
- Bringing together industry, research and policy (tailored events, science-business summits)
- Best practice share on innovative projects aimed at Remote Sensing, Laser scanning and Laser cutting
- Establishment of pilot line of innovation technologies (3D scanner – 2 D scanner – Laser cutting) as a model case for sawmill companies.
- Demonstration of assortments innovative practices and handling of wood.
- Improvement of the knowledge of producers and processors of wood in optimizing the yield of raw wood assortments
