Two forestry anniversaries

RIJEČ UREDNIŠTVAOve godine hrvatska šumarska struka obilježit će dvije značajne obljetnice – 175 godina Hrvatskoga šumarskog društva i 145 godina njegovog znanstveno-stručnog i staleškog glasila Šumarski list. Glavni ciljevi ove, jedne od najstarijih strukovnih udruga u Europi, ostvareni su u cijelosti. Zaslugom ove udruge, šumarska nastava započela je kod nas 1860. godine osnivanjem Gospodarsko šumarskoga učilišta u Križevcima, a ona visokoškolska 1898. godine osnivanjem Šumarske akademije kao četvrte visokoškolske ustanove Zagrebačkog sveučilišta. Drugi cilj, pokretanje tiskanja znanstveno-stručnog i staleškog glasila, ostvaren je 1877. godine tiskanjem Šumarskoga lista koji izlazi neprekidno, unatoč ratovima, tako da je ovo prvi dvobroj 145-og volumena. Razlog otvaranja Šumarske akademije (danas Šumarskog fakulteta) bila je spoznaja tadašnjih vlasti da za vođenje šumskog gospodarstva nije dovoljna viša, nego je potrebna visokoškolska sprema. Već tada je shvaćeno kako je šuma najsloženiji ekosustav, zbog čega njime trebaju gospodariti visokostručni kadrovi po načelu potrajnog gospodarenja. To znači da se poštivala struka, a rezultat toga je očuvanost naših šuma. Hrvatsko šumarsko društvo dalo je svoj obol tome izravno, ali i kroz stranice Šumarskoga lista, što vidimo i u tekstovima ovoga dvobroja, posebice u rubrici Aktualno.Kakva je situacija danas sa strukom? Nikakva – ne poštuje se – svi, bez obzira na stručnu kvalifikaciju „znaju sve o šumi“, a politika ne nalazi vremena da o njoj stručno raspravlja. Ona odobrava netržišno gospodarenje šumskim resursima, a podupire drvoprerađivače, od kojih se većina bavi primarnom preradom drva s malom dodanom vrijednošću, dok je vrlo mali broj onih koji se bave finalnom obradom drva. Time, osim izvoza drvne sirovine, „izvozimo“ i radna mjesta, što očito nekima nije jasno. Prerađujući drvnu sirovinu uglavnom primarnom preradom, poništavamo trud prosječno tri generacije šumarskih stručnjaka, koji su uzgojnim postupcima osigurali njenu visoku kvalitetu i potrajnost.Šume kao resurs od posebnog interesa za Republiku Hrvatsku, unatoč činjenici da pokrivaju okvirno gotovo 50 % kopnene površine, već u mandatu tri Vlade „nisu zaslužile“ biti spomenute u nazivu resornog Ministarstva. Mediji, kada i govore nešto o šumi, to su uglavnom senzacionalistički negativni napisi koji podržavaju kritike nekih ekoloških udruga bez stručne podloge. Naravno, nisu mediji krivi, jer i oni ne posjeduju minimalnu edukaciju o šumi. Svojevremeno, osjećajući potrebu da se mediji educiraju kako bi imali stručnu podlogu za ono o čemu pišu ili govore, tadašnja urednica Hrvatske radio-televizije Lidija Firšt, potakla je uz stručnu potporu Hrvatskoga šumarskog društva pri Hrvatskom novinarskom društvu osnivanje Zbora novinara za okoliš. Taj rad je djelomično nastavila Tanja Devčić, urednica Drugog programa hrvatskog radija, čije se jutarnje emisije „Ekološka minuta“ svi sjećamo. Iz toga zaključujemo, kako bi mogla neposredno komunicirati s javnošću, šumarska struka trebala bi imati javnu tribinu. Svake nedjelje gledamo emisije Plodovi zemlje i More, a zašto ne i Šume, makar jednom mjesečno, a imalo bi se o čemu govoriti, primjerice o spomenutoj prodaji i preradi drvnih sortimenata, općekorisnim funkcijama šume, privatnim šumama ili pitanju rješenja sukcesija, jer smo recimo u Gorskom kotaru prije 30-tak godina govorili od oko 70 % šumovitosti, a ona se danas procjenjuje na 82 %. Dakle šuma je obrasla pašnjake i spustila se do vrtova, što bi se moglo riješiti primjerice Zelenom tranzicijom. Da se ne ponavljamo, treba „prolistati“ tekstove ove rubrike, gdje se mogu pronaći vrlo interesantne teme za raspravu.UredništvoEDITORIALThis year the Croatian forestry profession marks two important anniversaries – the 175th anniversary of the Croatian Forestry Association and the 145th anniversary of its scientific-specialist and professional periodical – the Forestry Journal. The goals of the Croatian Forestry Association as one of the oldest professional associations in Europe have been achieved in full. It is owing to this association that the forestry education in Croatia started in 1860 with the establishment of the Agricultural Forestry School in Križevci, while higher education began in 1898 when the Forestry Academy was established as the fourth institution of higher education at the University of Zagreb. The second goal, the launching of a scientific-specialist and professional magazine, was achieved in 1877 when the Forestry Journal was published. The Forestry Journal has been coming out continuously, even during war time, so that this edition is the first double issue of the 145th volume. The reason behind the establishment of the Forestry Academy (today the Faculty of Forestry) was the realisation by the then authorities that the management of forestry required not secondary but higher education. It was understood early enough that the forest as the most complex ecosystem needed to be managed by highly qualified personnel according to the principle of sustainable management. Accordingly, the dictates of the profession were meticulously followed, resulting in the current well-preserved state of Croatian forests. The Croatian Forestry Association has given its contribution to this directly but also through the pages of the Forestry Journal, as evidenced by the articles in this double issue, particularly in the column Current Affairs. What is the status of the forestry profession today? Sadly, very poor: it is not respected – everybody, regardless of their professional qualifications “knows all there is to know about forests”, while politics does not find time to organize professional debates about the issue. Moreover, it turns a blind eye to non-market management of forest resources and supports those wood processing companies which mostly deal with primary wood processing with low additional value, and only a very small number of them engages in final wood processing. In doing so, not only do we export wood raw material, but we also “export” work places, something that those concerned obviously cannot see. By primary processing of raw wood material, we annul the work of an average of three generations of forestry experts, who have applied silvicultural treatments to ensure its present high quality and sustainability.Despite the fact that forests as a resource of special interests for the Republic of Croatia cover almost 50 per cent of Croatian land area, they have not even “deserved” to be mentioned in the name of the relevant Ministry in the mandates of the last three governments. When forests are treated in the media at all, then the articles mostly echo scientifically groundless but sensationalist and negative criticisms of some environmental associations. Of course, the media cannot be blamed, because they do not possess even the minimal education about forests. Some time ago, aware of the need for the media to be educated in order to have an expert background for what they write or talk about, Lidija Firšt, the then editor of the Croatian Radio Television, initiated the establishment of the Association of Environmental Journalists at the Croatian Journalist Association with expert support of the Croatian Forestry Association. Her work was partly continued by Tanja Devčić, editor of the Croatian Radio Second Channel, whose morning show “Environmental Minute” we all remember. From this we conclude that, in order to communicate directly with the public, the forestry profession should have a public forum. Every Sunday we watch TV shows Fruits of the Earth and The Sea: why not Forests, even if it be once a month. There would certainly be a wealth of topics to discuss, such as the sale and processing of wood assortments, non-market forest functions, private forests or the issue of succession, to name but a few. For example, about 30 years ago the forest cover of Gorski Kotar amounted to 70 per cent, whereas presently it is estimated at 82 per cent. The problem of forests colonizing pastures and approaching gardens can be solved by the Green Transition. Not to repeat ourselves, let us browse through the articles already published in this column and find highly interesting topics for discussion.Editorial Boar