Forest management in the first level of protection at the Special Nature Reserve “Obedska Bara”

Abstract

The oak forests in the area of the Special Nature Reserve “Obedska bara” are extremely valuable and unique at the national and European level, which is why they are recognized as the fundamental value of the reserve. The local name of the oldest complex of oak forests in the special nature reserve is “Debela gora rainforest” and it has been placed in the first degree of protection regime. Given that it is included in the first level protection regime, the priority goal of forest management is the preservation of biological diversity, which implies the absence of any management treatments. As a result of this approach, there is a loss of oaks and other species with higher demands for light, therefore other species such as hornbeam appear and take over, which is subject of analysis in this paper. Given that the replacement of species is not the goal of forest management in areas under the first degree of protection, this paper proposes forest management protective measures aimed at the restoration and revitalization of areas that could be implemented with the consent of the competent institutions.

Keywords

• first level protection regime
• rainforest
• restoration