Financial consequences of ice breaks in state forests in Eastern Serbia in 2014

Abstract

The negative effects of climate change on natural resources represent one of the biggest challenges the forestry sector is facing. The increase in the frequency and intensity of the occurrence of natural disasters (snow-falls, icefalls, windbreaks, etc.), as well as negative economic, ecological and social consequences, significantly affect the performance of all activities within the forestry sector. This paper aims to study the relationship between financial elements (remediation costs, income from forest assortments and biological investments and profit) in relation to two influential factors (damaged wood volume and damaged forest area). For the purposes of the research, secondary data were collected and analyzed, obtained from the internal documentation of Public enterprise ?Srbijasume?. The damage caused by ice breaks in Eastern Serbia covered an area of 19,419.78 ha in state forests, as well as that considerable direct and indirect economic damage was caused. The results of the research indicate that, when the volume of damaged wood increases by 1%, remediation costs increase by about 0.67%, and income by about 0.65%. Also, with an increase in the volume of damaged wood by 1 m3, the profit decreases on average by about RSD 50,000. It was also noticed that, with an increase in the damaged forest area by 1 ha, remediation costs increase by RSD 21,000 on average, while the profit decreases by around RSD 6,000.