Produkcja węgla drzewnego na przykładzie RDLP Krosno

The burning of wood in the Bieszczady Mountains (SE Poland) began to play a significant role with first settlements in this region in the 17th and 18th centuries. Large beech wood resources were the main reason for such a high charcoal production in this part of Poland. The role of charcoal production in the Bieszczady region is reflected in the names of villages such as Smolnik (Tar), Potasznia (Potash) and Mielerzysko (Charcoal Pile). The aim of this paper is to present the scope and volume of charcoal production in forest districts located in the territory of the Krosno Regional Directorate of State Forests (RDSF) in 2008−2013. It also identifies the number of companies dealing with charcoal production as well as the efficiency and amount of burned charcoal calculated on the basis of the quantity of purchased wood. The verification of the information about the locations of charcoal burning concerned all 26 forest districts of the Krosno RDSF. Charcoal burning bases were identified in the following forest districts: Baligród, Bircza, Cisna, Dukla, Komancza, Lutowiska, Rymanów and Stuposiany. Most bases were located in the territory of the Lutowiska ranging from 5 to 7 in the analysed period. Slight changes in the number of charcoal burning bases were found in the Cisna forest district, where initially there were 5 companies involved in charcoal production, while in 2009−2010 their number increased to 6 entities. In the Stuposiany forest district 5 bases of charcoal burning run by two companies were identified, and in the Baligród and Komańcza forest districts four charcoal burning bases operated in each of them. In the Dukla forest district, two companies dealing with charcoal production were identified in 2008−2009, one in 2010−2012, while in 2013 no such entity was found. In the Bircza and Rymanów forest districts, only one charcoal burning base operated at that time. In 2008−2013, the number of bases located in the research area slightly decreased from 29 to 25, and the amount of produced charcoal decreased from 7372.4 to 3855.6 tonnes sold mainly in Bieszczady and part of the Lublin region. A significant drop in production was not the result of a decrease in demand; it was rather associated, inter alia, with the import of cheaper charcoal from abroad.