The Biodiversity and Forest Management in the Czech Republic

Abstract

This paper addresses the biodiversity of forest ecosystems as an important criterion of sustainable forest management. Possibilities of biodiversity classification and evaluation are discussed and the situation in the Czech Republic described, including information on measures proposed for maintaining, preserving and increasing biodiversity.

The political tools on biodiversity protection, including the Helsinki resolution H2 are discussed. On the basis of numbers of forest plants and trees, it is shown how small part of the global biodiversity is represented by the forestry in Central Europe.

Some most important aspects of the current unsatisfactory state of biodiversity of the forest ecosystems in the Czech Republic are described. The data have been collected and elaborated from the Report on forestry of the Czech Republic, Red List of plant communities and protected and threatened species of the Czech flora. Today, unsuitable species composition is considered to be one of the main causes of decline and threat to many plant and animal species and whole forest communities, resulting in a lower level of biodiversity.

Alternatives of measuring and evaluating biodiversity are mentioned. In conclusion, a survey of the most important measures for sustaining and increasing the biodiversity of forest ecosystems, as proposed and implemented in the framework of the ecological transformation of forest management in Czech Republic, is presented. It is for instance suggested changes in tree species composition, improvement of the forest typology, realisation of measures on preservation and reproduction of gene resources of forest tree species, deflection of clear-cut management system, increased share of the natural regeneration, increased care for the specific biotopes, creation and use of the “generals” of the regional system of ecological stability and reduction of damages by hoofed game. The attention is pointed to gene bases, their characteristic, purpose and management as a basic measure of forest management for sustaining and improving the biodiversity of forest ecosystems.