THE FORESTRY PROFESSION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

RIJEČ UREDNIŠTVAPrema Wikipediji, odnos s javnošću ima za cilj: „njegovanje odnosa s dionicima koji čine okruženje organizacije radi pridobivanja potpore njenim ciljevima te izgradnje povjerenja i ugleda“. Američka strukovna udruga odnosa s javnošću, odnos s javnošću definira kao „proces strateške komunikacije koji gradi uzajamne odnose između organizacija i njenih javnosti“ (vlasti, građana, medija, tržišta . . . . . ). Nakon pojašnjenja termina iz naslova, nameće se pitanje, da li je šumarska struka dovoljno učinila za „pridobivanje potpore njenim ciljevima/zadaćama te izgradnje povjerenja i ugleda“? Prema sadašnjem stanju i percepciji šumarstva u očima prethodno navedenih „njenih javnosti“, očito nije. Uvijek je moguće bolje, i od toga nije potrebno bježati, no sve nas više činjenica upućuje na ignoriranje šumarske struke. O razlozima možemo raspravljati, ali po našem mišljenju jedan od glavnih razloga je upravo navedeno pomanjkanje „strateške komunikacije“. Za nju su ponajprije potrebni meritorni partneri na razini javnosti, koje Hrvatsko šumarsko društvo unatoč neprekidnom nastojanju, posebice zadnjih godina, nije imalo. Nije teško strateški komunicirati, jer imamo argumente koji mogu mijenjati tretman javnosti, samo ih treba češće, ne bježeći od ponavljanja, na pravim mjestima prezentirati, naravno onima koji žele slušati. Te argumente često smo u rubrikama Šumarskog lista, a posebice u ovoj rubrici isticali.Ponajprije zagovaramo načelo tržišnog gospodarenja šumama kod prodaje šumskih proizvoda, što znači nadmetanje za kupnju drvne sirovine, a ne dobava po ugovorima/raspodjeli s cijenama puno nižima od onih, ne samo u EU, nego i u bližem okruženju. Upozoravali smo da tako niske cijene, posebice najvrjednijih drvnih sortimenata omogućuju rasipanje nacionalnog bogatstva i dobru zaradu već u primarnoj obradi drva, čime se ne potiče proizvodnja visoko finaliziranih proizvoda, koji osim uz ekonomično korištenje sirovine, osiguravaju veliku zaposlenost i to stručnih radnika i inženjera. Pravim finalistima tržišne cijene sirovine nikada nisu predstavljale problem. Čitajući u novinama – tekst objavljen u Slobodnoj Dalmaciji, u kojemu se hvali preradu drva kao važnu sastavnicu BDP-a i izvoza koji raste, osim namještaja, upitajmo se zašto ne raste samo izvoz namještaja. Odgovor je vrlo jednostavan – mi smo izvoznici drvne sirovine uglavnom najniže obrade, a time i radnih mjesta u korist inozemnih kupaca. Još kada tome dodamo da smo im uz tu sirovinu osigurali FSC certifikat, kompletirali smo svoje rasipništvo.Kada smo govorili o općekorisnim funkcijama šume (OKFŠ) i naknadi za njih, upozoravali smo da se ovdje radi o najvrjednijim resursima koje imamo: tlu, šumi, vodi i zraku, posebice važnim sastavnicama klime. Prisjetimo se samo nekih podataka, primjerice da iz naših šuma uz prosječne oborine od 1200 mm godišnje, istječe oko 13 milijardi tona pitke vode, strateškog resursa 21. stoljeća, ili pak da naše šume vežu više od 5 mil. tona ugljika. Računa se da drvo kao energent za grijanje obiteljske kuće s 20 000 kWh godišnje, kod izgaranja ispušta 100 kg, plin 4 600, a loživo ulje 5 600 kg CO2, a da je zaposlenost kod korištenja drva kao energenta za istu količinu energije 1 : 9 u korist drva. Danas se u svijetu govori ne samo o smanjenju tzv. ugljične ekonomije, nego je sve više zagovornika bezugljične ekonomije. Kada se pak radi o naknadi za OKFŠ, ona se u Zakonu o šumama neprestano smanjuje, pa i u prijedlogu novog Zakona, čime pogodujemo najviše krupnom kapitalu koji taj zajednički trošak naziva „parafiskalnim nametom“, a u sklopu društveno odgovornog poslovanja dio prihoda trebali bi vratiti zajednici i okolišu, što se preko naknade OKFŠ-a i čini. U prijedlogu Zakona u nastavku smanjenja naknade, od osnovice za plaćanje izuzelo bi se sve do 1 mil. kn. prihoda godišnje. Razmišljamo li o tome da savjesni gospodarstvenici, shvaćajući potrebu ovog izdvajanja za opću korist društva, smatraju ovu naknadu svojom obvezom a ne nametom. Prema informacijama iz medijskih razgovora s odgovornima, primjenjivat će se nova Strategija prilagodbe klimatskim promjenama, koja promiče strože kriterije za njihovo usporavanje. Predviđaju se ulaganja od oko 70 mil. eura godišnje – kažu opravdano, jer se štete procjenjuju na preko 80 mil. eura godišnje. Da li će se mijenjati i odnos prema šumarskoj struci i šumama koje bitno utječu na klimatske promjene, vidjet ćemo. Nadajući se boljem tretmanu šumarske struke i općenito inženjerskih struka, koje jedine stvaraju dodanu vrijednost, našim čitateljima želimo Čestit Božić i uspješnu 2018. godinu.<br>UredništvoEDITORIALAccording to Wikipedia, the aim of public relations is to "foster the relationship with stakeholders who constitute the environment of an organisation for the purpose of obtaining support for its goals and develop trust and reputation". The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as a "strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics (governments, citizens, media, markets ...).After the explanation of the terms from the title, the question arises whether the forestry profession has done enough to "obtain support for its goals/tasks and build trust and reputation"? Judging by the current status and perception of forestry in the eyes of "its publics", it most obviously has not done so. One can always do better and one should not shy away from it. However, an alarming number of facts indicates that the forestry profession is being ignored. The reasons for this are open for discussion, but in our opinion, one of the most important reason is the lack of "strategic communication" from the above definition. Such communication requires meritorious partners at the public level, which the Croatian Forestry Association has not had despite continuous efforts to obtain them. It is not hard to communicate strategically because we have arguments which can change the public treatment; what we need to do is to present them frequently and in the right places to those who are willing to listen, even at the risk of repeating ourselves. These arguments have often been highlighted in the columns of Forestry Journal, and particularly in this column. First and foremost, we advocate the principle of market forest management in the sale of forest products, which means competing for raw wood material rather than purchasing it by contracts/allocation at prices which are much lower than those in the EU and in the surrounding countries. We have repeatedly warned that such low prices, particularly of the most valuable wood assortments, lead to squandering the national wealth and enabling some to make good profit at the primary wood processing stage. This is not conducive to the production of highly finalized products, which would provide high employment of professional workers and engineers as well as ensure the economic use of raw material. Market prices of raw material have never been a problem to proper finalists. An article in Slobodna Dalmacija commends wood processing as an important component of GDP and of growing export, with the exception of furniture.. Let us ask ourselves why it is only export of furniture that is not growing. The answer is very simple: we export raw wood material at the lowest possible processing stage. Consequently, we also export work places for the benefit of foreign buyers. Add to this the FSC certification and our squandering nature is complete. When we discussed non-wood forest functions (NWFF) and the NWFF tax, we pointed out that we were dealing with the most valuable resources at our disposal: soil, forest, water and air, which are among the most important climate components. Let us put forth some facts; e.g. at average rainfall of 1,200 mm annually, our forests provide about 13 billion tons of potable water, the strategic resource of the 21st century. Our forests also sequester more than 5 billion tons of carbon. It is estimated that wood as a source of energy that heats family homes, at combustion of 20,000 kWh per annum releases 100 kg CO2, gas 4,600 kg CO2, and fuel oil 5,600 kg CO2. Employment related to the use of wood as energy is 1 : 9 in favour of wood for the same amount of energy. The world is currently concerned with the reduction of so-called carbon economy. There is also an increasing number of those advocating low-carbon economy. As for the NWFF tax, it is being constantly decreased in the Forest Law. The same goes for the proposal of the new Law, in which this joint expenditure is being denunciated as "parafiscal tax" by large capital. In the framework of socially responsible business, a part of the profit should be returned to the community and the environment, which is precisely the function of the NWFF tax. The proposal of the Law, related to the reduction of the tax, suggests that everything below 1 million kuna revenue annually should be exempt from the tax. Conscientious economists understand the need to allocate this tax for the general benefit of the society and regard this tax as their obligation and not an impost. According to information from media discussions with competent agents, a new Climate Change Adaptation Strategy will be implemented and stricter criteria for climate change deceleration will be imposed. Investment of about 70 million euro annually is predicted - justifiably so, because damage is estimated at over 80 million euro annually. Whether there will be a change in the attitude towards the forestry profession and forests, which have a crucial impact on climate change, remains to be seen. In the hope of better treatment of the forestry profession and engineering professions in general, which are the only ones to generate additional value, we wish our readers Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful Year 2018.<br>Editorial Boar