COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

Fig. 2: Nature monument “Stone of Billy-Goat” surrounded by European beech, in National Park “Bredhi
i Drenoves”, Korca region, Albania (H. HASKA)
euroPeaN beech ForesTs aNd TheIr aGe sTrucTure
Forests in Albania have mainly close-to-nature character with dominant uneven aged structure;
however in many parts of Albania, very old and overmature stands with low increment can be found.
More than 50% of high forests of E. beech are about 100 years old. They are usually in mountainous
areas which are hardly accessible due to poor road infrastructure. Those forests are found in some
districts such as Tropoje, Librazhd, Malesi e Madhe and Pogradec, and recently have been declared
as protected areas. The future role of these areas will be more for nature conservation, recreation and
scientific purposes and no longer for wood production.
Intensification of silvicultural activities directed at beech production forests in the future will lead to
an improvement of their age structure.
euroPeaN beech ForesTs aNd TheIr ProducTIoN PoTeNTIaL
Forests today have a multifunctional role, however, the main function remains the production
of wood, whether as commercial timber or as fire wood, or more recently for biomass which is
considered more environmentally friendly.
Forests in Albania can be grouped according to their production as follow:
- Forest with high production, which occupy over 11% of total forest area, and have a annual
production of 2.3 m3 /ha.
- Forest with medium production, which occupy over 13% of total forest area, and have a production
of 1.8 m3 /ha.
- Forest with low production, which occupy over 6% of total forest area, and have a production of
1.3 m3 /ha.
14