Alternatives for Bulgarian forests

The European Forest Information Scenario Model (EFISCEN) is an area-based forest matrix model, which is especially suitable for projections of forest resources of large areas under assumptions of total national felling. EFISCEN uses time steps of five years and national forest inventory data. The inventory data are presented by forest types, which are defined by country, region, owner, site class, and tree species. Each forest type contains data on area, volume and net annual increment by age classes. The state of forest is depicted as an area distribution over age and volume classes in volume-age matrixes. The projections carried out with EFISCEN provide insight in increment, growing stock, age class distribution, actual felling per tree species and region. The model has been used to make projections of development for 30 countries individually under three different scenarios on management regimes. The scenarios vary from continuing the present felling levels in the countries to maximum sustainable production level. The simulations showed that growing stock development and increment development differed very much for each country separately per scenario. In this article, the consequences of each scenario are for wood production, biodiversity, and environmental functions of the forest in Bulgaria, with reference to some other countries in the Balkan region, which are addressed.