High risk-adjusted returns, low correlation with financial asset classes and inflation hedging are investment characteristics that make forests a desirable investment opportunity. To examine returns on forestry investments (from 2011 to 2020), we focused solely on 48 forest companies (across the globe) that were listed on stock exchanges. Results indicate the economic justification of investing in publicly traded forestry companies. The positive five-year beta coefficients (β) range from 0.21 to 3.46, amounting to 1.15 on average. Taking the last 10-year comparison of the world’s most common capital market benchmarks, the highest return was achieved by the S&P500 (13.8% on average) followed by forestry companies (9.1%), U.S. Treasury bonds (4.4%), and gold (3.0%). Forestry companies, along with their associated business activities (sawmilling, final products production, and paper production), show the best historical performance from an investor’s point of view (total return of 13.2%).

The environmental, social and economic potential of Dinaric uneven-aged forests along with the complex stand dynamics influenced by different long-term management approaches and environmental factors require comprehensive forest monitoring. This study aimed to explore differences in the current status and recent past dynamics of stand structures between unmanaged and managed mixed fir-beech forests in the Croatian part of the Dinaric Alps using large-scale data from an established monitoring system. From the 74 permanent sample plots distributed within the forest type measured in 2008 and re-measured in 2019, we stratified four strata (types of management regimes): (1) forests out of regular management and tree harvest for at least 30 years, (2) managed state forests on carbonate bedrock, (3) managed state forests on non-carbonate bedrock and (4) managed private forests. In each sample plot, 34 structural attributes were computed to assess indicators of their current status and recent past dynamics of stands in the studied forests. An increasing Q shape diameter distribution with a high number of large and very large trees characterize unmanaged forests and managed forests on non-carbonate bedrock. In managed state forests and private forests, variable (rotated sigmoid) and constant (negative exponential) results were obtained, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) distinguished managed and unmanaged forests with decreasing harvest volume and recruitment, increasing basal area, number of very large trees, average diameter at breast height (DBH), crown defoliation of firs and basal area of died beech trees. The current structure, recent and expected stand dynamics in the unmanaged forests (accumulation of standing volume, increase of large diameter trees and large snags, large share of beech, large mean DBH) can be recognized as old-growth attributes. The differences between the studied forest types, potential of both unmanaged and state managed fir-beech forests and approaches to sustain multifunctional forest management in the Dinaric region were discussed.

SEEFOR - South-East European Forestry

Wildlife-based tourism, including hunting, is attracting interest from governments, the tourism industry, and researchers. Capital investment in renewable resources, like forests, represents spatial and temporal management, which is significantly limited by the natural potential of a particular habitat (e.g., volume increment, the quantity of food for wildlife, etc.). Therefore, the return rate expected by the investor is quite fixed and the only tool by which the investor can increase it is by adding further business activities and/or expanding the existing value chain. In the Republic of Croatia, the only forests which can be purchased by individual or institutional investors, and in which it is possible to establish both active forest management and commercial hunting, are private forests. Based on these insights, we analysed characteristics of capital invested in a large-scale private forest, where game management is carried out in addition to extensive forest management. Of the 1,104 hunting grounds in Croatia, the one with the largest percentage of forest cover (92%) and privately owned (61%) was taken as the subject of this case study (name of the hunting ground: VIII/120 “Permani” (10,017 ha)). A theoretical approach was used in which the investor buys all private forests (predominantly consisting of common beech), conducts forest management activities, and makes a profit by selling timber (30-year period). Furthermore, the hunting segment consisting of game management for red deer, roe deer, wild boar and brown bear is evaluated. At the lowest cost of capital (5.41%), the results of the separate forest management revealed an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 5.10%, a negative Net Present Value (NPV) (-760,000 €) and a 30-year discount payback period. Joint forest and game management resulted in an IRR of 5.69%, a positive NPV (680,000 €), and the same length of a discount payback period.

Contacts between humans and wild animals are common and frequent, but very rarely end in attacks by wild animals on humans. The aim of this paper is to identify the circumstances of wildlife attacks on humans in Croatia, while the idea behind the paper is that a better understanding of interactions between humans and wildlife should subsequently lead to fewer attacks. As there is no database on attacks by wild animals on humans in Croatia, the data for this analysis was collected from scientific publications, media, and relevant reports. The variables analysed refer to the type of attacks and the victims of the attacks. The results showed that there were 33 attacks by wild animals on humans in Croatia in the period from 2005 to 2023; the most frequent were attacks by wild boars, brown bears, and grey wolves. The characteristics of the attacks differ depending on the animal that perpetrated the attacks, but there are some common characteristics: the attacks mainly took place in rural areas; the victims were mostly male and over 40 years old; in almost all attacks they suffered minor injuries; and during the attacks the victims were in most cases hunting, walking dogs or herding livestock. The data obtained from this analysis can be used to develop preventive measures and define appropriate behaviour in areas with wildlife.