Characteristics and drivers of forest cover change in the post-socialist era in Croatia: evidence from a mixed-methods approach

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• 作者：Marin Cvitanović ; George Alan Blackburn…
• 刊名：Regional Environmental Change
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：August 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：16
• 期：6
• 页码：1751-1763
• 全文大小：4,231 KB
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Environment
  Geoecology and Natural Processes
  Geology
  Oceanography
  Geography
  Nature Conservation
  Regional Science
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1436-378X
• 卷排序：16

文摘

Extensive forests in Croatia represent an important biological and economic resource in Europe. They are characterised by heterogeneity in forest management practices dating back to the socialist planned economy of the pre-1991 era. In this study we investigated the difference in rates of deforestation and reforestation in private- and state-owned forests during the post-socialist period and the causal drivers of change. The selected region of Northern Croatia is characterised by a high percentage of privately owned forests with minimal national monitoring and control. We used a mixed-methods approach which combines remote sensing, statistical modelling and a household-based questionnaire survey to assess the rates of forest cover change and factors influencing those changes. The results show that predominantly privately owned forests in Northern Croatia have recorded a net forest loss of 1.8 % during the 1991–2011 period, while Croatia overall is characterised by a 10 % forest cover increase in predominantly state-owned forests. Main factors influencing forest cover changes in private forests are slope, altitude, education structure, population age and population density. The results also show that the deforestation in private forests is weakening overall, mostly due to the continuation of the de-agrarisation and de-ruralisation processes which began during socialism.KeywordsPost-socialismEastern EuropeForest managementDeforestationPrivate forestsMixed-methods research