DIGITALNA ARHIVA ŠUMARSKOG LISTA
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ŠUMARSKI LIST 3-4/2018 str. 70     <-- 70 -->        PDF

but also for the needs of forests, monitoring, research, recreation, fire protection and other purposes (Eastaugh & Molina, 2011, Stefanović et al. 2016, Laschi et al. 2016). Planning a network of truck roads is preceded by a detailed analysis of the current qualitative and quantitative state of roads, and above all determines the spatial distribution of truck roads (Pentek et al. 2005; Lotfalian et al. 2008; White et al. 2010; Krč & Beguš, 2013; Danilović & Stojnić, 2014). The analysis of current spatial distribution reveals the part of the forest which does not allow access to the use of existing roads (Pellegrini, 2012). An analysis of the existing primary forest traffic infrastructure consists of a series of operations and procedures. Its task is to determine the quality, quantity and possible deficiencies of the existing road network, while it is also the first stage in the planning and optimization of a forest road network (Pentek et al. 2005).
Primary forest traffic infrastructure in the Republic of Srpska consists of forest roads that go through the forest and can be used for forest management. According to the Law on Public Roads (Official Gazette of RS, No. 89/13), forest track roads belong to the category of unclassified roads, together with rural, agricultural and industrial paths and roads on embankments for flood protection, access roads and others. In recent years, various studies on the state of the network of forest roads and perspectives of their development were carried out in the Republic of Srpska (Ljubojević, 2010; Potočnik et al. 2013; Danilović & Ljubojević, 2013; Petković et al. 2015; Dražić, 2016; Marić, 2016). During their research, the authors obtained a variety of information about the openness of forests and forest land at disposal. However, the information were mainly obtained on the basis of assessment or incomplete and unreliable evidence. So, Potočnik et al. 2009 reported that the density of the network of truck roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska was 8.7 m/ha in 2009, while three years later (Potočnik et al. 2012) the reported density of the network of truck roads was as low as 6.0 m/ha. However, in the report on the analysis of the forestry sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (FAO, 2015) the density of the network of forest truck roads in the Republic of Srpska is 9.05 m/ha.
In 2016, an inventory of primary forest traffic infrastructure in the area of Public Enterprise „Šume Republike Srpske” was produced in order to gain a clear insight into the quantitative status of the network of truck roads in the Republic of Srpska. The inventory of primary forest traffic infrastructure was implemented using handheld GPS devices, and the data were processed using GIS softwares. Although it is clear that handheld GPS devices are not designed for accurate measurements, especially in forest conditions (Abdi et al. 2012), it was concluded that they could be used for the mapping of forest roads, since forest roads are mostly open areas where trees are removed. The development of the existing forest road cadastre is a prerequisite for conducting analyses and obtaining quality forest opening programs. Since the network of forest roads is dynamic and subject to constant changes, it is very important to regularly update the database (Talebi et al. 2015).
RESEARCH AREA
Područje istraživanja
The research was conducted in the territory of the Republic of Srpska, one of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the Cadastre of forests (PFE, 2015), the total area of forests and forest land owned by the Republic of Srpska is 1,002,055.00 ha, and the total area of forests and privately owned forest land is 300,329.00 ha.
 
Table 1. An overview of forest areas and forest land by forest categories
Tablica 1. Pregled površina šuma i šumskog zemljišta prema kategorijama šuma
User forests and forest land owned by the Republic of Srpska are managed by the Public Enterprise „Šume Republike Srpske”, within 26 forest management units (FMU) and karst areas managed by the Center for karst management with headquarters in Trebinje. Areas of the national parks “Kozara” (3,530.00 ha) and “Sutjeska” (17,214.00 ha) belong to forests and forest land owned by the Republic of Srpska, while industrial plantations cover an area of 7,383.00 ha. In this paper, we analyzed an area of 843,466.00 hectares managed by 26 forest management units (FMU) without the Brčko District. These areas are not included in the analysis because forests and forest land in this region have a different purpose, which could have an impact on the results.