Timber Risk Score: 88 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Slovakia for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:
- Specified risk for 3 sub-categories.
- Low risk for 15 sub-categories.
- No legal requirements for 3 sub-categories.
This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Slovakia.
40% (1.94 million ha) of Slovakia is covered by forests of which:
- About 1% is primary forest
- About 49% is naturally-regenerated forest
- About 50% is planted forest.
Roundwood production totalled 9 million m3 in 2015. The forestry sector (including wood processing and pulp and paper) contributed US$ 2.0 billion to the economy in 2011, which was nearly 2.4% of the GDP.
Risk is present in Slovakian timber supply chains. The risks relate to legal rights to harvest, taxes and fees and timber harvesting activities. If you are sourcing timber from Slovakia you should take care to ensure the risks identified are not present in their your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.
Score: 52 / 100 in 2021
Rank: 56 out of 180 countries in 2021
There are currently no armed conflicts in Slovakia according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker.
FSC Certified Forest Area: 208,652 hectares (4 December 2019).
PEFC Certified Forest Area: 1,215,967 hectares (31 December 2019).
Information Gathering
Timber sources
Timber source | Description of source type |
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Planned harvest |
Timber from planned harvest within production forests. A harvesting permit is issued by a Licensed Forest Manager. Harvest areas or trees have to be marked in the field if the trees are older than 50 years. A Forest Management Plan required. This is the main source of timber in Slovakia. |
Sanitary logging |
Timber from sanitary logging. A harvesting permit is issued by a Licensed Forest Manager. The harvest area or trees have to be marked in the field. |
Extra logging | Timber from permanent conversion, temporary conversion or from forest land where its use has been prescribed. The decision to carry out this extra logging is issued by the Forestry Authority. A harvesting permit is issued by a Licensed Forest Manager. The harvest area or trees have to be marked in the field. |
Timber from non-forest land | Timber from non-forest land. The approval for felling trees is issued by a Nature Protection Authority (mostly linked to municipalities). |
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment summary
Legal rights to harvest
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Taxes and fees
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Timber harvesting activities
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Third parties' rights
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Trade and transport |
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Risk Mitigation
Mitigate the risks in your supply chain
Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Slovakia
Source Certified Materials
NEPCon believes that third party certification (for example FSC and PEFC certification) can provide strong assurances of the legality of the products they cover. Companies seeking to mitigate the risks of sourcing illegal timber should seek to purchase third party certified materials wherever possible.
While the European Timber Regulation does not include an automatic “green lane” for certified products, it does recognise the value of certification as a tool for risk assessment and mitigation. The European Commission says that companies “may rate credibly certified products as having negligible risk of being illegal, i.e. suitable for placing on the market with no further risk mitigation measures, provided that the rest of the information gathered and the replies to the risk assessment questions do not contradict such a conclusion.”
For more information on using certified materials in your due diligence, including how to assess whether a certification system meets EUTR requirements, see the page on Certification and Due Diligence.
Mitigation recommendations
There are five recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Slovakia. 1. Fully map your supply chain
- Our supply chain mapping tool can help you do this.
2. Obtain and verify documents
- Forest level documents
- Harvesting permits and harvesting records to show if logging is conducted as salvage felling
- Clarify whether the harvesting site is protected by national legislation (to level 3 to 5) or is a Natura 2000 sites by consulting:
- http://gis.nlcsk.org/lgis/ (protection level)
- http://globus.sazp.sk/uev/ (habitat directive) and
- http://geo.enviroportal.sk/vu/ (bird directive)
- Nature Management Plans with identified protected sites and species.
- Trade and transport documents
- Procedures verifying that a due diligence system is in place
3. Consult with stakeholders
- Forest Managers confirm that information about legally protected areas and species (including habitats) is known.
4. Carry out on-site verification
- Confirm (in the case of salvage logging) that the wood was allowed to be logged under a salvage permit by:
- verifying that received timber shows signs of bark beetle attack when receiving the timber,
- confirm disturbance in the field (e.g. sign of bark beetle attach, wind fallen or dead trees etc.) and eligibility of salvage felling (whether dead or affected trees has been harvested) confirming that harvesting permits, harvesting records (area species volumes) and maps are in compliance with reality.
- Confirm compliance with environmental legislation (sites and species protection)