Forest in Lithuania
The forest in Lithuania with 2,177,000 hectares comprises 33.3 percent of the total area of the country (2014).
Forest ownership
The first written data on forest ownership and property reached from the times of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Žygimantas Augustas (1520–1572). According to the Valakų law of 1957, the forest was identified as a form of property. The private forests dominated in Lithuania until the land reform in 1920. The private forest owners had about 65% forests in the country.
In Soviet Lithuania , forests were 71% of the state forest. The forests of the Lithuanian kolkhoz made up 21.3%, those of the state estates 4.8% and the forests of the other administrators 2.9% (1961).
33.7% of the Lithuanian forest area is private forest (717,200 ha), 49% state forest (1,051,200 ha) and 16.8% forest, reserved for restitution according to previous ownership rights before the Soviet occupation (332,500 ha).
Forest groups
In Soviet Lithuania , the forests were divided into two groups. The first group included the protective forests (30%) and the second exploitation forests (70%).
Today the forests are divided into four groups:
- Group I: reserve forests (1.6% of the total forests)
- Group II: Special-purpose forests (12.8%), whereby:
- Group IIA: Forests for ecosystem protection (8.9% of which are protected areas - forests)
- Group IIB: recreational forests (3.9%)
- Group III: protective forests (15.2%)
- Group IV: commercial forests (70.4%)
National parks
- Aukštaitija National Park
- Dzūkija National Park
- Curonian Spit National Park (Lithuania)
- Trakai National Park
- Žemaitija National Park
Regional parks
There are 30 regional parks in Lithuania. They were built in 1992. The largest is the Labanoras Regional Park (553.43 km²) in Upper Lithuania and the smallest Pavilniai Regional Park (20.1 km²) near Vilnius.
Politics and administration
Until 1998 there was the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Lithuania . Today, the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment is responsible for forestry and forest policy in Lithuania. The General Forestry Office at the Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment is responsible for looking after 42 local forestry offices (lit. miškų urėdija ), in which certain forest areas operate as state forest enterprises and forest administrations. The second forest authority Valstybinė miškų tarnyba carries out the supervisory control.
Forest Authority Subordination
Ministry of Environment of Lithuania
- General Forestry Office at the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment
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Chief forester's office ( forestry office , lit. Miškų urėdija ), a total of 42 chief forester's offices
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Forestry department ( Revierförsterei , lit.Girininkija ), a total of 350 forestry departments (2015)
- Sub-forestry department (lit. Eiguva ), a total of 1,001 sub-forestry department, status 2006 (1922: around 2898)
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Forestry department ( Revierförsterei , lit.Girininkija ), a total of 350 forestry departments (2015)
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Chief forester's office ( forestry office , lit. Miškų urėdija ), a total of 42 chief forester's offices
literature
- Edvardas Riepšas . Lietuvos miškai. Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija , T. XII (Lietuva). - Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų Leidybos institutas, 2007. 66 psl.
- Lietuvos miškų ūkio mokslinio tyrimo institutas (responsible editor Leonardas Kairiūkštis ). Lietuvos TSR miškai. - Vilnius: Valstybinė politinės ir mokslinės literatūros Leidykla. 1962.