In the European Green Deal and the Climate Act, the European Union has committed itself to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This goal is to be achieved by joint efforts of all economic sectors, including forestry and its downstream sectors. One way to attain this goal is the effective and sustainable use of forest biomass for energy production. This article aims to quantify the potential of forest biomass resources for the production of electrical and thermal energy based on official departmental statistics, the current legal framework for forestry and the environment, and research results in the context of an extreme change in the raw material base due to the ongoing calamity caused by the spread of insect pests in the Czech Republic. This extreme can classify as a significant risk to the security of the energy supply from renewable sources in the event of oversizing new installed energy production from renewable sources. Based on data and calculations, an overall annual volume of dendromass available for energy production in the Czech Republic for the period extending to 2036 was quantified at the value of 13.473 million tons per year. Consequently, it is clear that the overall dendromass resources for energy production in the Czech Republic are not sufficient to achieve the EU’s ambitious objective.

Central European countries are strategic wood exporters in the European and international wood trade. In the context of wood exporters, Czechia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Austria are the important countries providing the development and stability of the forestry and wood sector. The share of these countries’ exports in total EU exports represents more than 52% of the volume of wood exported over 5 years. After the Netherlands, the five mentioned countries recorded the highest increase in roundwood production of all EU and EFTA countries in the years 2000–2022 (from 46% (AT)–126% (CZ)), and the European average is 26%. The last decade has been characterised by a significant destabilisation of the Central European timber market as a result of natural disturbances linked to climate change, which also threatens the long-term competitiveness and preservation of this sector in the economic systems of national economies. The article provides an analytical insight into the historical development of natural calamities and their macroeconomic consequences in Central European countries. The data forecast an unfavourable development of the timber market in Europe caused by the ongoing calamity situation, the pricing policy of the timber trade, the oversaturation of the market with lower-quality calamity timber, insufficient processing capacities for primary processing of wood and its use in secondary processing, and, last but not least, the limited stock of timber in the coming years in selected Central European countries (due to an extreme increase in harvesting plans within the last 5 years, with consequences that will be felt in the coming decade). For the continued economic function of forests and the availability of wood supply for future generations, the current evolution of calamities in forest ecosystems is critical, and long-term strategic measures based on empirical data are necessary. The information presented in this paper can serve as a tool for the objectification of strategic decisions in the development of forestry policies in selected countries.

The article discusses the issues of effectiveness of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certification systems in relation to enterprises and the level to which the systems which present sustainability as a part of their ethos are accepted by consumers. The justifiability and topicality of this issue result from the increasingly strong interest in sustainability of the society as a whole as well as from the long-term vision of sector policies with respect to meeting the objectives of sustainable development. The increasing demand for natural resources exerts pressure on our planet. Sustainability is hence essential for our future and has long been in the centre of the European project. Its economic, social and environmental aspects which form the common objective of society have been acknowledged in EU agreements. A principal document of a global nature is the 2030 UN Agenda for Development, a sustainability programme which has the sustainability of forest ecosystems established in its Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Visions, direction and goals of sustainable development have also been stipulated in the Paris Agreement on climate change (COP21), in the Addis Ababa action programme and in The Future We Want declaration, namely in its Chapter II, which appeals to enterprises and industries for developing strategies which would contribute to sustainable development. This study aims to analyse and assess the justifiability of the existence of certification systems in relation to processing operators and end consumers in the Czech Republic. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that, despite the strong representation of selected certification systems in the Czech Republic, their effectiveness in economic, social and environmental terms is not perceived exclusively positive by businesses and consumers.

The current requirements put on the Member States of the European Union (“EU”) in the area of sustainability and climate-neutral economy through strategic visions such as “Agenda 2030” or “A Clean planet for all” demonstrate the increasing need for quick identification of the changes required in the use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. Forests are a particular specific area of such changes. They represent a part of the ecosystem that is important for society from the economic, social, and environmental perspectives. Current climate changes have had a negative effect on the state of forestry in the Czech Republic and have raised many questions of how to ensure its sustainability. Besides the changes in forestry, the situation has also affected the sector primarily depending on the production function of forests and whose coexistence is conditioned. Taking specific sectors as examples, the article presents some prospects that could result in more efficient use of resources and defines potential synergic effects. Analyses of primary and secondary information sources were used to create preferential models (the term “preferential” in the context of the article represents opportunities through which it is possible to achieve an improvement in competitiveness and market advantage over the current model of wood processing and timber trade in the Czech Republic. The model works with potential perspectives and respects the challenges in the field of sustainable development) of timber and wood raw material production and processing and preferential and of economic efficiency (the term “efficiency” in the article represents the technical efficiency of the use of resources to achieve maximum economic benefit and added value. The aim is to increase the economic potential of individual sectors of primary and secondary processing in relation to timber sources) of woodworking businesses. The production model indicates that the energy use of wood, the expansion of the production mix in construction, the use of biomass and digestate in agroforestry, and the logging waste recovery are the most prospective sectors. The model presenting preferential areas in the woodworking industry development with respect to sustainability identified the need to increase associated production and material efficiency in construction and energy sectors, as well as insufficient activity of the sectors associated with technological innovations, FSC and PEFC certification prospects, bioeconomy and circular economy, a considerable need for wage growth in the sector and increased use of the existing production capacities by both domestic and foreign sales.

An optional leisure activity in forest areas for mountainbikers is the subject of discussion in this article. Cycling has become a popular leisure time activity, not only in the Czech Republic but internationally. A bicycle offers the user an unparalleled freedom that seems to have great appeal in these globalized, modern times. A singletrail is a narrow single-directional path for mountain bicycles in the landscape, in contrast to the two-lane forest roads mainly intended for the industrial purposes of forest management. The singletrails of Moravský kras (Moravian Karst) are built on the land owned by the Mendel University in Brno (Masaryk Forest Enterprise Křtiny) near the Jedovnice municipality of the Czech Republic. The aim of the article is to assess the attendance of the area using automatic counters, and to analyse the results, especially according to the illegal transits in the area of interest. The preferences of visitors were evaluated using questionnaires as well. Hypotheses were defined, and the chi-square test and Mann-Whitney testing methods were used to validate or improve them. Separate preferences for men and women were analysed in order to detect the differences or similarities of preferences. According to the results, women notably prefer the medium to easiest level of difficulty of the trails while men mainly prefer the trails of medium difficulty, although they use the most difficult trails too. Contact with nature is important for both the target groups. Training on singletrails is not as important for women as for men, but physical activity is very important to both groups. Women mainly ride on the singletrails for the joy of movement, which they consider to be a more important reason than men. The results of this study will be used to improve the area for mountainbikers as well as singletrail design for newly planned areas. Both human preferences and environmental needs will be taken into account.

The Impact of International Trade of Raw Wood to the Economic Growth of Forest-Based Sectors in the Czech and Slovak Republics