Review article
MORE THAN HALF CENTURY OF FOREST SEED PRODUCTION IN CROATIA
Karmelo Poštenjak
Marija Gradećki-Poštenjak
; Croatian forest research institute
Abstract
Almost two thirds of Croatia’s territory occupies Karst, where over the centuries mankind systematically devastated forests, which eventually led to barren land. Human concern for such areas can be seen through raising conifer monocultures in Mediterranean area, and
in supplementing the reforestation of common oak in Pannonian region. Until the end of 2nd WW it is not possible to trace the organized Seed Production which starts in 1947 with establishing
of the Institute for afforestation and Karst-ameliorations in Split with its stations in Rijeka and Trsteno. Within activities of the Station in Rijeka are recognized foundations of the future Institution for Forest Seed Control which was promoted in 1959 by Poslovna zajednica
{umarstva i drvne industrije (Business Association of Forestry and Wood Industry). During these sixty years of activity we may distinguish few phases of development: – period until the unification into the Forest Research Institute in 1974 is marked with first mass selection of economically important tree species used for approved seminal stands (an idea never put to realization), drafting the programmes of care and genetic melioration, standards for forest seed, legal acts from related to seed production, small number of analyzed samples, scientific-expert work on researching new models of seed-quality analysis, works publishing, etc. – period after the unification in 1974 up to 1990 is recognizable in greater effort invested into scientific-expert work (participation at symposiums and publishing works), the continuation of mass selection, making management plans, approval of selective ameliorative assignments, supervising over production of forest seed, bringing out and
harmonization of legislative acts with ISTA regulations, significantly greater number of seed-samples analysis, etc. – last two decades in new circumstances (independence of Republic of Croatia, centralized
forestry) has characteristics of “cleaning” failures from the past, intensive scientific-expert work, revision of existing recognized seminal stands and amelioration of management programs, promotion of new regulations based on region of provenances
of economical important forest tree species, more serous approach to production and seed use, enlarged number of seed-samples analysis, defining and harmonization of legal acts with the EU and ISTA guidelines, accreditation of laboratory for seed testing
according to the Norm HRN EN ISO/IEC 17025 . Through all this time, besides the lack of financial means (the consequence of which are
out of date techniques and technology) most noticeable is the lack of human resources, especially highly educated.
Keywords
chronicles of forest seed production; anniversary
Hrčak ID:
93190
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2011.
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