Development of a new concept for improvement of forest techniques in Croatia – Areas of possible contributions

The paper addresses a possible concept for improving forest techniques in Croatia as a response to challenges encountered by the Croatian forestry in its effort to satisfy the increased ecological, social and economic commitments. Achieving a safety culture in forestry, increasing energetic efficiency with a lesser impact on the environment, developing innovations and entrepreneurship and receiving more contributions from research activities are considered the key elements of the new concept. The concept of forest techniques improvement focuses on permanent education of specialised staff and on training and certification of working skills of workers and operators of forest mechanisation in particular.Amajor part of improvements in the quality and safety of forest work relates to mandatory licensing of forest contractors. The article advocates the creation and implementation of an energy efficiency strategy and lower dependence on traditional fuels and lubricants. The comparison of national and European research needs with the ongoing research activities in Croatia has shown that the current research programme is unable to achieve major improvements in the forestry techniques and technology. The solution lies in involving Croatian scientist in international and multidisciplinary research projects