Reforestation in Poland: History, Current Practice and Future Perspectives

Abstract

In the past, the entire region of Poland was overgrown by forests. Due to economic changes, the forest cover was reduced to 40% in the 18th century and 21% after the Second World War. After the war, Polish foresters undertook considerable efforts to increase the forest cover to 30.8% by 2015. Polish forests are characterized by the dominance of oligo- and mesotrophic coniferous species (68.7%). This include the pioneer species, Scots pine. It covers approximately 60% of the area. The species composition of Polish forests determined the dominance of artificial regenerations. However, the currently prevailing direction of forest culture is natural regeneration. This tendency is related to “greening” of the forest management, the priority of durability over productivity and culture of multifunctional forests. A natural or seminatural direction of forest culture is being promoted. Renewal of the species such as fir, beech, oak, or spruce from the last stages of succession have always taken place in a natural manner, whereas the statistics are generated by the dominant species preferring open areas during renewal. Currently, the scale of natural regenerations of the pine is increasing. It is increasingly common to value the favorable economic aspect of natural renewal of the species, and the experience of practitioners supported by scientific research increase the likelihood for success. In Poland, the majority of methods of regeneration proceedings (forest cutting) and the law are directed at obtaining and promoting natural renewal. Independent of the concept of natural renewal promotion, the location of Poland in the intermediate climate zone, between the influence of oceanic and continental climates, resulted in the formation of valuable tree stands with high flexibility and tolerance to growth conditions. They are divided into seed stands, excluded stands, and timberlands. Thus, Poland is in possession of a great base for seed collection. At the beginning of 1990s, a rapid need for container seedlings occurred due to numerous disasters (wind-broken trees, gradations). Currently, in Poland, 17 field nurseries are in operation producing 1–10 m seedlings. In 1992, Poland received a loan from the World Bank to conduct afforestations and the “National Program for Increasing the Forest Cover” was started. The main objective of the plan is to increase the forest cover to 30% in 2020 and 33% in 2050. Within the program, it is planned to include vegetation of the natural succession in the area of approximately 80,000 ha.

Land Cover Effects on Selected Nutrient Compounds in Small Lowland Agricultural Catchments

“…Because of the agricultural character of the study area, it is dominated by croplands and meadows, while the contribution of forested areas, composed mainly of white willows (Salix alba L.), common aspens (Populus tremula L.), black alders (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. ), and scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.), is similar to the average value for Poland (approximately 30%) [58]. It must be emphasized that the investigated area is characterized by a low degree of urbanization-according to the Corine Land Cover 2018, the contribution of anthropogenic areas does not exceed 10%, and such artificial surfaces can be identified as small-and medium-sized villages and settlements.…”

Height of Successional Vegetation Indicates Moment of Agricultural Land Abandonment

“…The government subsidies encouraged private owners to afforest low-quality agricultural land. The process reached a peak in 2003, and rapidly declining after 2006, due to amended criteria for the allocation of private agricultural land for afforestation and the introduction of direct payments to active farmers after accession to the European Union in 2004 [33,34]. For that reason, many afforested parcels were detected in this study as vegetation regrowth between 1997 and 2009.…”

“…The other, less frequent type, includes land plots or cadastral parcels fully covered by plants (mostly trees) of one species, and homogeneous height and age, which is likely due to afforestation. After 1990, the afforestation practices in Poland were regulated by the National Programme for Expanding of Forest Cover, introduced in 1995 and updated in 2003 [32,33]. The government subsidies encouraged private owners to afforest low-quality agricultural land.…”

Effects of Forestry Transformation on the Landscape Level of Biodiversity in Poland’s Forests

“…In 1939-1945, Poland's forests were very demolished by warfare and military battles fought on the Eastern Front, as well as were indiscriminately exploited by the German occupying forces. As compared to that at the end of the 1700s, Poland's forest cover as of 1945 was reduced almost by two (from approximately 40% to 20.8%) [12][13][14].…”