Private forests
On the territory of Poland 94,1% of private forests are the property of individual persons. A relatively substantial part of privately-owned forests is owned by land communes (about 4%). The remaining part, i.e. private forest belonging to farming cooperatives, churches, religious associations, trade unions and others, occupies a comparatively small area.
Private forests are spread unevenly over the area of Poland, obviously due to the impact of our history. Forest of individual private ownership have the smallest share in the total forest area in the territory of the so-called Reclaimed Lands, and partly in the lands formerly annexed by Prussia as well as in the area covered by the Military Operation ‘Wisła’ in the south-east Poland. On the other hand, in the areas of Podlasie and Lubelszczyzna the share of private forests is substantial: the biggest share of private forests amounting 70% is in the east, where the former minor properties of the nobility and ‘zaścianki’ were located, namely in the Wysokie Mazowieckie county (79%), Siedlce (73%) and Sokołów (70%), and in the Carpathian foothills of the Małopolska region in the Myślenickie county (71%). In 215 out of 314 land counties, the share of private property in the total forest area accounts for less than 30%. In 32 counties this share exceeds 50%.
Total area of private forests - as of January 1, 2021 - amounted to 1,786 thousand hectares; the standing volume was 459 million m3 and the average age of stands was about 52 years. The average standing volume amounted to 257 m3 per hectare of the forest area.
Since there are few reliable data sources, the principal felling management tasks were estimated basing only on the data on final felling and pre-final felling in private forests included in the National Forest Inventory and accounted for about 4.6 million m3 gross annually, which comprised:
- 1.0 million m3 of merchantable timber in final felling,
- 3.6 million m3 of merchantable timber in pre-final felling.
In private forests, the dominant forest habitat type are lowland habitats of mixed forests.
The dominant species with the highest share in private forests are: pine (57.6%), alder (8.5%) and birch (6.7%).
Local authority-owned forests
Total area of local authority-owned forests - as of January 1, 2021 - amounted to 84 thousand hectares; the standing volume was 32 thousand m3 and the average age of stands was about 73 years. The average standing volume amounted to 375 m3 per hectare of the forest area.
Since there are few reliable data sources, the principal felling management tasks were estimated basing only on the data on final felling and pre-final felling in local authority-owned forests included in the National Forest Inventory and accounted for about 268 thousand m3 gross annually, which comprised:
- 92 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in final felling,
- 176 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in pre-final felling.
The greatest number of local authority-owned forests occur in lowland mixed forest habitats.
The dominant species with the highest share in local authority-owned forests are: pine (37.9%), beech (15.5%) and fir (10.9%).
Forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury
Total area of forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury - as of January 1, 2021 - amounted to 28 thousand hectares; the standing volume was 9 thousand m3 and the average age of stands was about 59 years. The average standing volume amounted to 321 m3 per hectare of the forest area.
Since there are few reliable data sources, the principal felling management tasks were estimated basing only on the data on final felling and pre-final felling in forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury included in the National Forest Inventory and accounted for about 87 thousand m3 gross annually, which comprised:
- 39 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in final felling,
- 48 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in pre-final felling.
In forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury, the dominant forest habitat type are lowland forest habitats.
The dominant species with the highest share in forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury are: alder (35.3%), pine (18.3%) and oak (9.2%).
Forests under National Park management
Total area of forests under National Park management - as of January 1, 2021 - amounted to 183 thousand hectares; the standing volume was 73 thousand m3 and the average age of stands was about 82 years. The average standing volume amounted to 390 m3 per hectare of the forest area.
Since there are few reliable data sources, the principal felling management tasks were estimated basing only on the data on final felling and pre-final felling in forests in the Agricultural Property Stock of the Treasury included in the National Forest Inventory and accounted for about 308 thousand m3 gross annually, which comprised:
- 67 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in final felling,
- 241 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in pre-final felling.
The greatest number of forests under National Park management occur in the habitats of mountain forests.
The dominant species with the highest share in forests under National Park management are: beech (30.3%), pine (30.2%) and spruce (12.5%).
Other State Treasury Forests
Total area of other Treasury-owned forests - as of January 1, 2021 - amounted to 57 thousand hectares; the standing volume was 14 thousand m3 and the average age of stands was about 61 years. The average standing volume amounted to 301 m3 per hectare of the forest area.
Since there are few reliable data sources, the principal felling management tasks were estimated basing only on the data on final felling and pre-final felling in other Treasury-owned forests included in the National Forest Inventory and accounted for about 18 thousand m3 gross annually, which comprised:
- 6 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in final felling,
- 12 thousand m3 of merchantable timber in pre-final felling.
According to CSO Forestry 2021