Społeczne i ekonomiczne uwarunkowania realizacji publicznych funkcji lasu w Państwowym Gospodarstwie Leśnym Lasy Państwowe

The objective of the study was to present the social and economic conditions needed for provision of public forest functions by the State Forests National Forest Holding (PGL LP) managing the great majority of forests of the national property in Poland. The analysis was restricted to the selected protection functions (water and soil protection, protection of air and wildlife) and to the social functions (recreational and educational). Based on the analysis of four social factors (increasing social awareness, demographic changes in Poland, growing wealth of Polish society and social preferences towards forest functions) and three economic factors (increasing costs of forest management including labour costs and decreasing productive capacities of forestry), a number of conditions decisive for further directions of public sphere development in forestry as well as mutual relations between two main areas of PGL LP activities (timber production function and the most important non−timber forest and forest management functions) were developed. The obtained results indicate that in the nearest decades the PGL LP will implement forest management close to the limits of economic efficiency, which first of all will depend on the social factors. Necessary conditions will be interlinked with political expectations towards the forests as an important element of climate policy and also towards timber from forests as a source of renewable energy. Presented factors will occur in conditions of further diversification of competency in the field of nature protection within forests as well as persisting tendency towards diminishing area of productive forests. Resolving the conflict between multiple unfavourable for the forest economy social, political and environmental circumstances could come through economic solutions such as development of internal timber market and increasing timber prices.