In mountain areas, rockfall is a natural process, nevertheless it can present a risk for transportation routes and nearby villages due to its spontaneous release and extreme velocities. On steep slope above the Vršič pass road, there are many rockfall sources that threaten not only an important transportation connection between Kranjska gora and Bovec but also all users of this regional road. An assessment of protection function of the forest against rockfall above a part of the road has been made. We specified the stand boundaries and evaluated them by the NaiS method. Current state has been compared to the target state that provides protection against rockfall. Data were analyzed using Excel program and we determined the proportion of total wood stock of beech 54%, of spruce 26% and of larch 20%. Frequency distribution of tree species indicated insufficient portion of trees in the third dbh class and lack of large beech trees. In order to provide a long-term protection efficiency, both multi-aged forest management and regeneration are necessary. In areas where silvicultural measures do not suffice, an introduction of technical measures is need. We recommend planned management of protection forests, including active care to provide protective role in a sustained way.
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