Although soils are the key component for sustainable development, soil degradation in EU member states continues to increase. Forest soils are not excluded and are particularly vulnerable to degradation processes, the more so after natural disasters and intensive use of modern technologies. Compaction is the most common consequence of such uses. The present study analyses the existing national and international policy documents that refer to soil protection using content analysis. Particular emphasis is given to soil compaction and limitations of using modern technologies. The results indicate that the EU Thematic Strategy for soil protection set ambitious objectives related to soil degradation prevention and soil function conservation. Since the Directive setting out a framework for soil protection and amending Council Directive 2004/35/EC, as proposed in the Strategy, was not adopted, the various aspects of soil protection in EU member states are fragmented among numerous policies. However, the EU environmental policy has the most important role. Although soil compaction is identified as one of the main threats, it is not sufficiently addressed and considered in EU policy documents. Current forestry legislation only indirectly considers forest soil protection in terms of minimizing the negative effects of forestry operations. Due to the increasing use of modern technologies, a more active approach to (forest) soil protection will be necessary in the future. Likewise,...
COBISS.SI-ID: 5157030
The first part of this article presents the main kinds of forest soil damage: soil compaction, soil displacement, and emergence of rut. In the second part of the article, we describe the factors of forest soil sensitivity to damage, which we split into basic soil factors (soil texture, soil organic matter, air in the soil, soil water) and secondary soil factors and variables (soil structure, soil porosity, soil density, air and water permeability of soil). Some factors of increasing the forest soil resistance to damage are listed. Planning of work is an important phase of machine felling. Due to the heterogeneity of forest soil it is impossible to accurately spatially determine more or less appropriate working sites. We propose still acceptable stand damage as an additional criterion % allowed rut depth seems to be an appropriate index.
COBISS.SI-ID: 5106086