Beautiful Polish Forests
Today, the topic of Polish forests. How important are our forests? I think we all know the answer.
My mom and my grandfather worked for years afforestation forest nursery in Forest District Kielcza. Unfortunately they not live, therefore today’s topic I wanted to dedicate to their memory and work involved for the renewal of our natural wealth, which are undoubtedly our beautiful forests.
Forests in Poland – forest communities on Polish territory. From prehistoric times as a result of the processes of human civilization and the expansion of forest areas gradually decreased. Significant acceleration of contraction (deforestation) was in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Yet at the end of the eighteenth century Polish forest cover was approx. 40% (in the then limits), but after World War II in 1946 it was only 20.8%. Forest management in the years 1946-1970, consisting largely afforestation (mainly pine plantations) Polish forest cover increased to 28%. Currently (as of December 31, 2013) forest areas occupy 9177.2 thousand. ha, representing 29.4% of the country. Since the end of World War II Polish forest resources is steadily growing. According to the National Afforestation Programme in 2020, the forests are to constitute 30% of the country, and in 2050 – 33%.
Successful Polish State Forests are derivatives of the policy pursued since 1924 when the Decree of the President of the Second Republic was established the National Forests.
Polish State Forests are an excellent example of the implementation of the concept of sustainable development, so important in the European Union. Allow you to use their natural resources, these resources are Poles, and there are more and more.
Poland is the European leader when it comes to areas of forest. They occupy 29.2 percent. the country, grow in the area of 9.1 million ha. The vast majority of state-owned forests, with nearly 7.6 million acres managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding.
In Poland, the forest is still growing. Forest cover of the country has increased from 21 per cent. in 1945 to 29.2 per cent. out. From 1995 until 2011 the forest area increased by 388 thousand. ha. The basis for afforestation works is the „National Programme for increasing forest cover”, assuming an increase forest cover to 30 percent. 2020 in. and up to 33 percent. in 2050. Polish Forests are rich in plants, animals and fungi. He lives in them 65 percent. the total number of animal species.
Forests grow in our country vulnerable soils, mainly due to the development of agriculture in previous centuries. This affects the distribution of forest habitat types in Poland. More than 55 per cent. forest area occupied forests. In other areas are forest habitats, mostly mixed. They represent a small portion of alder and riparian forests – a little over 3 percent.
Lowland and upland pine is most common. It grows to 64.3 percent. forest area in the State Forests and 57.7 percent. private and communal forests. In the mountains spruce predominates (west) and spruce with beech (East). The dominance of pine trees due to the way forest management in the past. Once monoculture (growing a single species) were in response to strong demand for the wood industry. Such forests have proved to be very resistant to climatic factors. It is easy also fell victim to the expansion of pests.
The Polish forests steadily increasing share of other species, mostly deciduous. Foresters departed from monocultures – adjust species composition to natural stand for the site. Thanks for the years 1945-2011 deciduous surface areas NFH has grown from 13 to more than 28.2 percent. Increasingly, there are oak, ash, maple, sycamore, elm, and birch, beech, alder, poplar, hornbeam, aspen, linden and willow.
In our forests are most common stands in age from 40 to 80 years. The average forest age is 60 years. More and more trees are large, with more than 80 years. Since the end of World War II, the area has increased from 0.9 million hectares to nearly 1.85 million ha.
Źródło : www.lasy.gov.pl-nasze-lasy-polskie-lasy, pl.wikipedia.org
Photos done in the forest: Borowiany, Raduń and Kielcza
