Attitudes of employees about conflicts in the forestry sector

Abstract

The paper presents the research results on conflicts in the forestry sector. The theoretical framework of the research is based on the belief that conflicts are a universal phenomenon. The basic constituents of conflicts are elements and aspects. The elements of conflicts are the substance, processes and relations between participants, which affect the social, cultural, institutional and economic aspects. They also include the aspect of natural resources, which is a feature of the forestry sector. Such a theoretical framework gave grounds for the analysis of employees' opinions about the type and significance and the stage in which the observed conflicts were. The opinions of the people employed in enterprises and organizations benefiting from state forests, protected areas and administrative state bodies in the forestry sector were collected through a survey. The data collected were processed using descriptive statistics. A lot of conflicting situations were identified and they were classified into 10 groups. The most serious one is the conflict between regular measures and works in the forest of nature protection. Nine participants were identified in these conflicts. It was found that some conflicts had been resolved, while some were in the latent phase, with the possibility to escalate.