Carbon balance in harvested wood products in Slovakia

The forests in Slovakia are managed according to the forest management plans. The limits for cuttings are prescribed according to the rules of sustainable forest management. Thus, the produced timber becomes the sustainable natural resource. The purpose of wood use has implications for the carbon balance. Wood products for long term use represent a carbon pool from which carbon is released according to decay of products. The method for calculation and results of carbon balance of harvested wood products in Slovakia are provided in this paper. According to the results, the total amount of carbon stored in the harvested wood products in Slovakia have had an increasing trend in the last years and reached almost 15 Tg. The calculation follows the methods and good practice guidance arising from the Kyoto Protocol.