"Forests cover almost 60% of Slovenia, and almost one in four Slovenians owns some forest land. While there are many diligent owners, there are also careless owners who do not even know where their property is located," the paper says in Worshipping Timber.

Večer adds that wood is a strategic natural resource, "our oil", and that the state should be aware of this. The state has made some good moves, but the question remains whether Slovenians know how to exploit this abundant natural resource.

The problem is that a majority of roundwood gets exported, because a vast majority of Slovenian wood processing companies, which used to be brands, have gone bust after losing major markets and being challenged by mass production.

The government has a plan to revive the wood processing industry, but not much has changed in this department, although there have been some projects lately which announce better times, the paper says.

Wood remains an important natural resource in Slovenia, which should be better utilised. But given the natural disasters which have destroyed swathes of forest in the recent years, people started asking themselves whether it pays to own forest land at all.

"There are several aspects, and every farmer will tell you that a farm without forest usually only scrapes by. Regardless of natural disasters and consequent fluctuation of prices, forests nevertheless remain a kind of a reserve investment," concludes the commentary.