Authors: Křenová, Zdenka; Janík, Tomáš;Romportl, Dušan ;

Appropriate management of European spruce forests in this time of climate change is a significant challenge. Uniform principles of quality forest practice must be applied, essentially in forests of high conservation value. However, as we demonstrate, this is problematic in protected areas with mixed ownership and disparate priorities. Managerial decision-making is often based on personal knowledge, priorities other than conservation, or political influence.
In this paper, we compare forest management practices of the state and private municipal owners in Šumava NP, where many valuable Natura 2000 habitats occur. We used high resolution aerial photographs to evaluate the effects of forest management measures, and compared the status of spruce habitats before and after a major windstorm and bark beetle outbreak. We found that follow-up forest management measures have significantly affected forests in Šumava NP negatively. Forest ownership was important for the type and intensity of changes. We compare our findings with experiences from other national parks with similar forest management challenges. Examples of appropriate practice applied in state owned forests together with well-targeted financial incentives are recognized as the most effective tools to reduce the disparities between private and state owners in management of protected areas.