Forest area in ČR is largest in history, continues to grow

Prague, Oct 9 (CTK) - Forest area in the Czech Republic increased by more than one-third from the end of the 18th century until 2011 and is now the largest since land cadastres came into existence, according to a publication presented by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) Tuesday.

According to the Josephinian Cadaster, established in 1785 to 1790, forests covered an area of 1.97 million hectares, but in 2011 forests were already on 2.66 million hectares of land.

The area of forests is growing mainly at the expense of agricultural land.

Jaromir Vasicek, the director of the Forest Management Institute (UHUL), said forest area grew at the fastest pace in the 1960s when around 100,000 hectares of land were forested. Forestation affected above all abandoned land near the Czech borders after the forced deportation of Sudeten Germans.

"Now forest area is growing only slowly. It is increasing above all at the expense of agricultural land as part of a restructuring of agricultural production," Vasicek said.

Forest area in the Czech Republic has been increasing by 1,000 to 2,000 hectares a year as part of subsidised forestation in recent years, according to Vasicek.

On the other hand, the area is shrinking as a result of construction of residential projects and motorways, Vasicek added.

Timber extraction is also increasing in the long term as forest area is growing. Extraction of timber has almost doubled compared with the period 50 years ago, the CSU's statistics show.