Forestry And Wood Industry In Slavonia From The 19th Century Onwards

Forests covered around 70% of Slavonian surface at the beginning of the 18th century. In the mid- 19th century, they will become the most important natural resource that will affect the growth of industrial plants in Slavonia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. World and European demand for Slavonian oak resulted in the development of wood-processing industry, so that the region would dominate it at the end of the 19th century in comparison to other parts of Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. Intensive industrial exploitation of forests led to the decrease of forest surfaces in Slavonia, but also to the increase of arable areas, which gave a push to agricultural development. The S.H.Gutmann Company from Belisce posed itself as the most important wood-processing company to become one of the biggest ones on the territory the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Although forest surfaces in Slavonia were decreased due to the sustainable management, their total area and the annual growth increases, so that those forest continue to be a valuable resource potential for the development of Slavonia and Baranja to date. Although the contemporary wood industry in Croatia has good quality raw materials and long tradition, the crucial precondition for its development is in the need for investment in technology and clustering which would lead to higher efficiency and competition of the products.