Forest cover changes in the Ravni Kotari Region in the second half of the 19th century

Ante Blaće

doi:10.21861/hgg.2019.81.02.03

Abstract

Forest cover changes in the Ravni Kotari Region in the second half of the 19th century

Highlights

Littoral Croatia has been characterised by environmental change and the formation of the cultural landscape due to land use since the prehistoric era (Glamuzina and Fuerst-Bjeliš, 2015; Fuerst-Bjeliš, 2018)
The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution of forests, changes in forested areas, and factors that influenced these changes in the Ravni Kotari Region in the second half of the 19th century, i.e. from 1849 to 1900
The spatial distribution of wooded pastures in Ravni Kotari cadastral municipalities does not lead to any firm conclusion

Summary

Introduction

Littoral Croatia has been characterised by environmental change and the formation of the cultural landscape due to land use since the prehistoric era (Glamuzina and Fuerst-Bjeliš, 2015; Fuerst-Bjeliš, 2018). Deforestation is a global process today, there has been a marked decline in forest loss (forest transition) in economically more-developed countries (Meyfroidt and Lambin, 2011) This occurred in some European countries and North America throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in the Mediterranean area in the mid-20th century (Cervera et al, 2019). The population of Ravni Kotari increased more between 1849 and 1900 than in any other half-century period on record, according to census data. During this period, various forest protection measures were implemented, which was not the case in earlier periods. The factors mentioned—population, economic activities (in this case, livestock herding), and legal regulations—are considered to be the direct factors (Plieninger et al, 2016) in land and forest cover changes, which is why they were analysed in this research

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Conclusion