Variation Between Voivodships in Terms of Forest Area and Silviculture Activities in Polish Forests in 2015-2019

The objective of the study reported here was to compare voivodships in terms of forest area, forest regeneration area, afforested area, thinned forest area and natural forest regeneration area Main Statistical Office data for Polish voivodships was analysed. It included forest area, natural forest regeneration and silviculture activities (forest regeneration, afforestations and thinning) in all forests, state-owned forests and privately-owned forests. Voivodships were compared using the arithmetic mean, the indicator of structure, the average rate of change, principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Principal Component Analysis, revealed that state-owned forest area, forest regeneration in state forests, total forest regeneration, and thinning in state-owned forests had the greatest share in the multivariate variation among voivodships analysed in terms of forestry. Cluster analysis yielded two groups of voivodships. The voivodships in the first group had a higher average total forest area, area of state-owned forests, total area of forest regeneration and forest regeneration in state-owned forests, area of natural forest regeneration and thinning in state-owned forests. On average, forests of voivodships which formed group 2 included less privately-owned forests in which fewer forest regeneration and afforestation activities had been conducted. Opolskie and Śląskie Voivodships as well as Łódzkie and Świętokrzyskie Voivodships were the most similar in terms of all the analysed characteristics.