Milan Mataruga

Challenges of Organizing Private Forest Owners in Serbia

Small-scale forestry in Serbia is characterized by high fragmentation of properties, a large number of parcels and forest owners. Numerous activities for private forest owners in Serbia supported by the State, FAO and CEPF have resulted in an increased interest of owners in forming private forest owners’ associations (PFOA). The goal of this paper is to explore preconditions that are necessary for organizing private forest owners in Serbia into effective associations. In order to reach this goal, results of PRIFORT project were used. The over-arching research questions of this paper are: “What is the level of interest among forest owners in forming owners’ associations?”; “Why has forest owner interest in organizing developed so slowly?” and “What are the necessary preconditions for the development of private forest owners’ organizations in the country?” In order to answer these questions, quantitative survey with 42 close, open and Likert scale questions was conducted. Sample size was determined following Malhotra’s proportion method and, in total, 350 private forest owners, from nine municipalities were interviewed. Results of this paper show that majority of respondents are very little or not at all aware of existing legislation. Almost half of respondents consider that their interests are not represented well. Although about 50% of interviewed forest owners miss interest organization, only 0,3% are members of PFOA. More than 70% are ready to join association, if it would provide some economic advantages.

Public Knowledge and Perceptions of Safety Issues Towards the Use of Genetically Modified Forest Trees: A Cross-Country Pilot Survey

Information on public awareness and acceptance issues regarding the use of Genetically Modified (GM) trees in forestry is lacking, although such information is available for GM organisms in agriculture. This is mainly due to the fact that in Europe there is no authorization for commercial planting of GM forest trees. To address this issue and within the frame of a European COST Action on the Biosafety of Transgenic Forest Trees (FP0905), a KAP (Knowledge Attitude Practice ) cross-country pilot survey was conducted among university students of different disciplines as sampling subjects. In total, 1920 completed questionnaires from 16 European and non-European countries were evaluated. The results provided novel cross-country insights into the level of public knowledge, particularly of young people and their perceptions on safety issues related to the use of GM forest trees , as well as on their attitude towards the acceptance of GM forest trees cultivation. The majority of the respondents, which was more than 60 % in all countries, approved the use of GM forest trees for commercial plantations , excluding natural forests. The majority of respondents also appeared willing to buy products from such plantations, such as wood products, pulp and paper. Over 80 % of the respondents from all countries were in favour of using labelling to identify products of GM origin, while more than 80 % of those would prefer that this labelling be legally mandatory. The top three benefits that were rated as very important in all countries involved the potential lower demand of the GM forest plantations for pesticides, the potential of GM forest trees for restoration of contaminated soils and the potential higher GM forest tree productivity. The top three GM forest tree risks that were perceived as serious hazards in all countries included the potential loss of biodiversity due to gene flow between transgenic and wild trees, the adverse effects of biotrophic processes on host ecosystems and the cultural adaptation to changing biodiversity conditions due to transgene escape. Overall, lack of knowledge regarding the potential benefits and potential risks of the cultivation of GM forest trees was observed in almost all surveyed countries.

Provenance by site interaction and stability analysis of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) provenances grown in common garden experiments

Abstract Fifteen provenances of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) were evaluated for stability and adaptability by height growth at four test sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1), Croatia (1) and Serbia (2). Provenance trials were established in spring 2007 by planting 2- and 3-yearold seedlings and arranged in a randomized complete block design. The data from seven 6- year-old and eight 5-year-old provenances were obtained in 2009 and analyzed separately. Finlay and Wilkinson’s regression analysis and Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction model (AMMI model) were used to assess provenance by site interaction (P × S) and to identify beech provenances that have high and stable performance in different environments, at the juvenile stage of development. Analysis of variance showed that effects of provenance, site, and P×S interaction are highly significant (p<0.001) in both age groups. Linear regression model evidenced that most of the provenances had regression coefficients not significantly different from unity (b=1.0), except for provenances Sjeverni Dilj Caglinski (HR24) and Vranica-Bistrica (BA59). The partitioning of the total sum of squares (SS) exhibited that the site effect was the predominant source of variation in both age groups of provenances (50.7% and 38.5%, respectively). Additionally, regression analysis explained 15.8% and 33.2% of provenance by site interaction terms, in provenances age six and five years, respectively, while the AMMI analysis accounted for 62.2% and 78.7% in P×S interaction. The results of AMMI showed that the first principal component (PC1) was statistically significant in both age groups. Adaptability and stability of provenances to the test sites were estimated with AMMI1 and AMMI2 biplots. Provenance Sjeverni Dilj Caglinski (HR24) showed constant performance over tested sites, characterizing with aboveaverage height growth at low yielding environments. Provenances HR25 and BA61 showed the opposite type of adaptation, being adapted to high yielding sites. Provenance Valkonya (HU42) was characterized by IPCA1 score close to zero and above average mean height growth, suggesting general adaptation to the tested environments. The implication of P×S was discussed in light of impact of climate change on beech and selection of most suitable provenances for future reforestation programs.

FENOLOGIJA CVJETANJA TRI VRSTE LIPE (Tilia sp.) NA PODRU

Cilj rada je analiza perioda cvjetanja vrsta roda lipa (Tilia sp.) u toku jedne vegetacione sezone, na podrucju grada Banja Luke. Vrste obuhvacene ovim istraživanjem su: krupnolisna, sitnolisna i srebrnolisna lipa. Terensko istraživanje je sprovedeno na tri lokaliteta: u parku Mladen Stojanovic, Univerzitetskom gradu i na Starcevici. Utvrđene su klimatske, edafske i orografske karakteristike objekta istraživanja. Navedeni lokaliteti, iako se nalaze relativno blizu u istom klimatskom podrucju, pružaju razlicite ekoloske uslove za razvoj i fenologiju istraživanih vrsta. Praceno je pet faza cvjetanja, s ciljem da se utvrdi uticaj stanisnih uslova na fenofazu cvjetanja, te utvrde geneticke razlicitosti analiziranih stabala. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da pocetak i trajanje pojedinih faza cvjetanja istraživanih vrsta, u najvecoj mjeri zavise od vrste i stanisnih uslova. Na osnovu izvrsenih fenoloskih osmatranja konstatovane su razlike u trajanju perioda cvjetanja kod analiziranih stabala unutar istog lokaliteta. Dobijeni rezultati mogu biti od koristi kod procjene kvaliteta sjemena i definisanja vremena i nacina njegovog sakupljanja.