DELTUVAS Romualdas
There are three main components to environmentally sound forest operations in Lithuania:
Overall indicators for the situation of the country's forestry are presented in Tables 1 and 2:
Table 1: Lithuania's forest resources (1998)
Resources | Area/volume |
---|---|
Total surface area of Lithuania | 6 530 000 hectares |
Forest land area | 1 978 000 hectares |
Productive forest area (stands) | 1 888 000 hectares |
Artificial forest area | 424 000 hectares |
Volume of growing stock | 347.6 million m3 |
184 m3/hectare | |
Volume of maturity stands | 59.4 million m3 |
249 m3/hectare | |
Gross annual increment | 11.6 million m3 |
6.2 m3/hectare | |
Net annual increment | 6.9 million m3 |
3.5 m3/hectare | |
Forest area per capita | 53 hectares |
Volume per capita | 89 m3 |
Table 2: Forest area by dominant tree species
Tree species | Area (hectares) | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Pine | 702.1 | 37.2 |
Spruce | 441.9 | 23.4 |
Birch | 375.2 | 19.9 |
Grey alder | 111.3 | 5.9 |
Black alder | 108.5 | 5.7 |
Aspen | 52.4 | 2.8 |
Ash | 50.8 | 2.7 |
Oak | 33.6 | 1.8 |
Other | 12.2 | 0.6 |
Total | 1880.0 | 100.0 |
A forest site mapping system was introduced to Lithuanian forestry in 1966 and has since become standard practice. Under the system, all silvicultural activities and forest operations are planned at sub-compartmental level in order to make the best use of forest soil, protect it from degradation and ensure sustainable multiple forest use. Measures include choice of species and mixed species, use of existing advanced re-growth, site preparation, plantation stand density tending, forest drainage, measurement of size and adjacent clear cutting areas, seed production and fire protection.
A system of forest protection classes (FPC) and categories has been used for decades as support for and an expression of multiple forest use (see Table 3). Forest management goals and silvicultural treatment vary from FPC to FPC: clear felling is permitted in FPC 3 forests (up to 6 hectares) and FPC 4 forests (up to 10 hectares); regeneration felling is permitted in FPC 2 forests; and no felling is permitted in FPC 1 forests. Thinning is recommended in FPC 2, FPC 3 and FPC 4 forests.
Table 3: Forest protection classes (FPC)
Forest land (1.888.000 ha) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FPC1 (1.6%) | FPC2 (13%) | FPC3 (14%) | FPC4 (71.4%) | ||||
Preserved forest | Ecosystem protection (8.9%) | Recreation al forest (4.1%) | Protective forest | Commercial forest | |||
State reserves State parks | Sanctuaries: | Forest parks Forest resources Recreational zones | Sanctuaries: | Not included in FPC 1, 2 and 3 | |||
• | landscape | • | geological | ||||
• | telmological | • | geomorphologic | ||||
• | pedological | • | hydrographic | ||||
• | botanical-zoological | • | cartographic | ||||
• | cultural | ||||||
anti-erosion | Protection belts | ||||||
City forests | |||||||
Baltic sea belt | Seed stands | ||||||
Research and training | |||||||
Forest management objective | Leave forests for natural growing | Preserve/reestablish forest ecosystems | Creation and preservation of recreational value of forests | Develop productive stands to protect soil, air, water and human environment | Develop productive stands to enhance sustainable flow of timber | ||
Forest operations | No forest operations | • | Regeneration felling in stands of natural maturity | • | Shelter felling | All types of felling allowed (clear felling < 10 ha) | |
• | Improvement felling | • | Selective felling | ||||
• | Sanitary felling | • | Clear felling (< 6 ha) | ||||
• | Landscape felling | • | Improvement and sanitary felling |
The genetic quality of Lithuania's forests is controlled and ensured through a variety of practices (see Table 4).
The following regulations and acts govern the country's forest operations:
Table 4: Assurance of forest genetic quality
Genus | Strict genetic reserves | Genetic reserves | Experimental plots | Progeny plantations | Clonal archives | Test seed orchards | Seed orchards | Seed partial reserves | Total | Plus trees |
Number | ||||||||||
Pinus | 2 | 80 | 79 | 61 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 279 | 475 |
Picea | 1 | 27 | 21 | 19 | 5 | 27 | 21 | 121 | 589 | |
Betula | 15 | 1 | 16 | 45 | ||||||
Alnus | 11 | 13 | 13 | 37 | 57 | |||||
Populus | 2 | 2 | 53 | |||||||
Fraxinus | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | ||||||
Quercus | 24 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 41 | 66 | ||||
Larix | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 34 | ||||
Salix | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
Tilia | 2 | 2 | 21 | |||||||
Pseudo-tsuga | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Total | 4 | 168 | 121 | 90 | 9 | 8 | 56 | 70 | 526 | 1356 |
Area (ha) | ||||||||||
Pinus | 5273 | 2059 | 24 | 117 | 9 | 111 | 226 | 307 | 8126 | |
Picea | 429 | 402 | 6 | 46 | 16 | 339 | 150 | 1388 | ||
Betula | 77 | 3 | 80 | |||||||
Alnus | 125 | 4 | 80 | 209 | ||||||
Populus | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
Fraxinus | 202 | 93 | 295 | |||||||
Quercus | 316 | 3 | 1 | 171 | 491 | |||||
Larix | 1 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 42 | |||||
Salix | … | |||||||||
Tilia | 9 | 9 | ||||||||
Pseudo-tsuga | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
Total | 5904 | 3082 | 37 | 171 | 26 | 111 | 609 | 708 | 10648 |