Private forests in the environmental and economic development of the Malopolska Region as seen by the Cracow Regional Directorate of the State Forests

The territory of the Cracow Regional Directory of the State Forests encompasses 13,444 km(2) of which 377,200 hectares, or 28.1 % of the total area of the region are forests. The forest area per inhabitant is estimated at 0.14 hectares, representing about 60% of the country mean, Private forests account for 46%, and their greatest share - 83%, occurs in the Podhale Region. Forest management carded out by private forest owners does not comply with the sustainable forest management principles, though their cooperation with the State Forests is very close. Recommendations regarding forest tending and protection, particularly in small-scale forest holdings are not met in full. The lack of interest of private owners to carry out management in their forests results from the high fragmentation of forest holdings and minor proportion of forests in the total area of a family forest holding. More than hundred thousands of forest owners in the territory of the Malopolska Region have no Organisation that would represent their interests or obtain support from the state budget, local authorities, non-state organisations and the European Union for the management of their forests. The establishment of private owners associations would be advantageous in promoting local forestry, arrangement for support for forest tending operations and timber sales. The new associations and land communities should be provided with assistance for drawing simplified forest management plans. An important, though still unsolved question is the delineation of field-forest boundaries, especially in the mountain regions. Support is needed for the development of small-scale water retention, augmentation of the forest cover in watershed areas and high flood risk areas, as well as afforestation of the lands of low usefulness for agriculture, The support for forest economy in the non-state owned forests should be a focal point of the national policy on forests. Actions should be taken to arouse interest of scientific institutions in the commencing of research on the development of instruments fostering use of the management, utilization, timber sales and processing methods in private forests based on stable and sustainable development.