STATE OF THE ART REVIEWS

1. INTRODUCTION
COST ACTION E22: Environmental optimisation of wood protection
Around 43% of the territory in Croatia is afforested. The most significant wood species
used for exploitation are common Slavonian oak – Pendunculate oak (Quercus pendunculata),
– chestnut oak (Q. petrea), common European beech (Fagus sylvatica), - silver
fir (Abies alba, Mill.) and – common spruce (Picea abies). According to the 1998 Statistical
Yearbook, in 1998 gross felling amounted to 3 501 627 m 3 . Gross felled timber
also includes waste and loss in felling.
Wood preservation in Croatia
A survey on the state of affairs and position of wood preservation made in 1997 showed
that the selection or removal of infected wood is today the most frequent way of protection.
Chemical preservation or mechanical protection is applied only when biodegradation
has been observed or the damage done, that is in the case of repressive preservation.
Among the protection procedures the most widely used is water spraying of logs and
preservation of sawn timber fronts and other elements by coating. Water spraying of
high quality veneer logs (such as "F" and "L" oak logs) is a cheap and very efficient
method of protection. Coating of log fronts with water repellent aseptic pastes is also
one of the cheaper and simpler procedures of preventive protection. Repressive protection
is applied only in the occurrence of insects and fungi or customers’ complaints. The
survey shows that the most common problem in companies is caused by moulds and
fungi affecting wood discoloration (sapstain, blue stain fungi), or in log storage by
insects Platypodidae, Scolytidae and Lymexylidae (ambrosia beetles and shot hole borers).
Manufacturers of oak and ash parquet sometimes have problems with Lyctus powder
post beetles, whereas problems caused by Deathwatch beetle, Ptilinus beetle are
noticeable only in old wooden structures. House longhorn beetle is frequently present in
wooden roof constructions and beams and less frequently in joinery.
Production and use of wood preservatives in Croatia
During 1999 the production of wood preservatives in Croatia was at a very modest scale
and hence provided for only the most urgent requirements in the forestry and wood
industry. As in previous years the production of solvent born preservatives was reduced
to the needs of manufacturers of joinery, and the same quantities of stains and alkyd
paint have been delivered to retail as in previous years. Insecticides are produced for
logs (particularly of high quality veneer logs), primarily against insects of Scolytida
family (ambrosia beetles and shot hole borers). Fungicide impregnation products, produced
mostly by foreign producers, are used as preservatives against the moulds on
steam-dried beech timber and against sap-stains and blue stain fungi causing wood discoloration.
28