Chair of forest management planning

History of the Chair

After World War I, at the first meeting of the University Council, held on 28th March 1919, the rector announced the act of the Ministry of Education which established the University of Belgrade Faculty of Agriculture with two departments: agriculture and forestry. After  the preparation, teaching at the university began on 5th December 1920. The Chair of forest management (today forest management planning) was established within the forestry department. It covered the following subjects: forest management science and dendrometry.

From that time until today, the Chair of forest management planning passed through dynamical changes, both in accordance with social changes (Law on Higher Education and the statutes of the Faculty of Forestry), and in accordance with the development of forestry science and profession. In many cases the Chair has itself been the engine of scientific and technical development of forestry in Serbia and beyond its borders. Pioneering work in this field was done by engineer Aleksije Šenšin, who was elected contracting professor at the  Faculty of Agriculture for the subject Forest management and Forest value calculation in the period from 1922 to 1924. Academician Žarko Miletić laid the foundations of forest planning, with many principles that are still used today, in his capital publications “Fundamentals of management in selection forests ” (1950 and 1951) and” Forest Management “(1954 and 1958).

In honor of his name and work of professor Miletić, the Faculty of Forestry in Brno (Czech Republic) named part of its experimental forests after him. A significant contribution to the development of forestry science and profession was given by the professors of the Chair: Dragoljub Mirković, Dragomir Milojković, Živojin Milin, Vladimir Miščević, Lazar Tomanić, Vojislav Stamenković and Đorđo Lazić. The implementation of the principle of multi-functional (integral) management of forests and forest areas and nature-close forest management, the forestry of Serbia owes to professors Dušan Jović and Milan Medarević. The contribution of professor Medarević is also significant in the field of strategic planning in forestry and typological differentiation of forest ecosystems. The credits for the elaboration of theory and practical application of modern forest inventory based on the technique of samples, the first design of the national forest inventory and the initial development of the information system in forestry of Serbia go to professor Staniša Banković. Professor Milivoj Vučković has given a huge contribution to the theory in the field of growth and productivity of forests and to the practical implementation of the results of his research which was often a pioneering project for Serbia.

So far, the chair has given a huge contribution to the education of forestry professionals in Serbia and the whole region, and a large number of Master of Science, Master’s degree and PhD theses have been defended in the fields of forest management planning, forest inventory and the growth and productivity of forests.

The new generation of professors (Damjan Pantić, Milorad Janić, Branko Stajić), assistant professors (Nenad Petrović i Biljana Šljukić), assistants (Dragan Borota, Marko Kazimirović), and associates (Snežana Obradović, Dragomir Grujović, Biljana Pešić, Živan Janjatović i Jasmina Vučetić) of the Chair of forest management planning continues the successful tradition of its predecessor. This is reflected in further development and upgrading of the fundamental disciplines of the Chair and the introduction of new scientific disciplines at all levels of study, such as forest growth modeling, dendrochronology, aerial photogrammetry and remote sensing in forest inventory, spatial analysis in forest management planning etc. The scientific work of the new generation of professors of the Chair is reflected in the continuous research of contemporary issues of forest management planning, with results published in numerous national and international scientific journals and publications. As experts in their disciplines, professors of the Chair are members of many international associations which actively participate in representing the interests of Serbian forestry.
Professors of the Chair of forest management planning have given a huge contribution to the development of the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade, as the most important educational and scientific institution in the field of forestry in this region. Among other staff members distinguished members are deans who were also members of this Chair:

1953 – 1955 – academician, prof. dr Žarko Miletić
1958 – 1959 – prof. dr Dragoljub Mirković,
1963 – 1966 – prof. dr Dragomir Milojković,
1989 – 2000 – prof. dr Dušan Jović,
2010 – 2015 – prof. dr Milan Medarević.