Assessing forest availability for wood supply in Europe

The quantification of forests available for wood supply (FAWS) is essential for decision-making with regard to the maintenance and enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to the global carbon cycle. The provision of harmonized forest statistics is necessary for the development of forest associated policies and to support decision-making. Based on the National Forest Inventory (NFI) data from 13 European countries, we quantify and compare the areas and aboveground dry biomass (AGB) of FAWS and forest not available for wood supply (FNAWS) according to national and reference definitions by determining the restrictions and associated thresholds considered at country level to classify forests as FAWS or FNAWS. FAWS represent between 75 and 95 % of forest area and AGB for most of the countries in this study. Economic restrictions are the main factor limiting the availability of forests for wood supply, accounting for 67 % of the total FNAWS area and 56 % of the total FNAWS AGB, followed by environmental restrictions. Profitability, slope and accessibility as economic restrictions, and protected areas as environmental restrictions are the factors most frequently considered to distinguish between FAWS and FNAWS. With respect to the area of FNAWS associated with each type of restriction, an overlap among the restrictions of 13.7 % was identified. For most countries, the differences in the FNAWS areas and AGB estimates between national and reference definitions ranged from 0 to 5 %. These results highlight the applicability and reliability of a FAWS reference definition for most of the European countries studied, thereby facilitating a consistent approach to assess forests available for supply for the purpose of international reportinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Harmonised statistics and maps of forest biomass and increment in Europe.

peer reviewedForest biomass is an essential resource in relation to the green transition and its assessment is key for the sustainable management of forest resources. Here, we present a forest biomass dataset for Europe based on the best available inventory and satellite data, with a higher level of harmonisation and spatial resolution than other existing data. This database provides statistics and maps of the forest area, biomass stock and their share available for wood supply in the year 2020, and statistics on gross and net volume increment in 2010-2020, for 38 European countries. The statistics of most countries are available at a sub-national scale and are derived from National Forest Inventory data, harmonised using common reference definitions and estimation methodology, and updated to a common year using a modelling approach. For those counties without harmonised statistics, data were derived from the State of Europe's Forest 2020 Report at the national scale. The maps are coherent with the statistics and depict the spatial distribution of the forest variables at 100 m resolution

Für das Politische in der politischen Ökonomie

Scheele A, Freudenschuss mAGDALENA, eds. Für das Politische in der politischen Ökonomie. Femina Politica. 2013;22(1)

Für das Politische in der politischen Ökonomie

Scheele A, Freudenschuss mAGDALENA, eds. Für das Politische in der politischen Ökonomie. Femina Politica. 2013;22(1)

Symposium no. 32 Paper no. 607 Presentation: oral Development of indicators for soil quality at the

Indicators have the objective of evaluating the degree to which targets are met. Indicators have to be policy-relevant, topical, reliable and easy to understand so that they can be communicated to decision-makers and stakeholders. The development and the selection of suitable indicators related to soil are often difficult due to the spatial variability and different properties of soils. Soils are buffer systems which cover up ongoing processes affecting the soil environment for a long time. Therefore it is often not enough to describe soil attributes (e.g. heavy metal content) and to use them as indicators. In addition to that, the pressures and also the impacts on other media and environments have to be considered and assessed with appropriate indicators. Only an integrated approach combining several relevant indicators can give answers to the complex questions of soil quality and sustainable land use

Strategies for Climate-Smart Forest Management in Austria

We simulated Austrian forests under different sustainable management scenarios. A reference scenario was compared to scenarios focusing on the provision of bioenergy, enhancing the delivery of wood products, and reduced harvesting rates. The standing stock of the stem biomass, carbon in stems, and the soil carbon pool were calculated for the period 2010–2100. We used the forest growth model Câldis and the soil carbon model Yasso07. The wood demand of all scenarios could be satisfied within the simulation period. The reference scenario led to a small decrease of the stem biomass. Scenarios aiming at a supply of more timber decreased the standing stock to a greater extent. Emphasizing the production of bioenergy was successful for several decades but ultimately exhausted the available resources for fuel wood. Lower harvesting rates reduced the standing stock of coniferous and increased the standing stock of deciduous forests. The soil carbon pool was marginally changed by different management strategies. We conclude that the production of long-living wood products is the preferred implementation of climate-smart forestry. The accumulation of carbon in the standing biomass is risky in the case of disturbances. The production of bioenergy is suitable as a byproduct of high value forest products

Maintenance and appropriate enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to global carbon cycles

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DIABOLO policy brief. Responding to European, national and regional challenges with harmonised forest information

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Project, drafting groups and actions followed by draft Mandate: Interim Report on ”Integrated Monitoring of Heavy Metals” in the framework of the European Environment and Health Strategy

2 reports ;[Decision COM (2003) 338 final]. Editor: The Technical Working Group on Integrated Monitoring; subgroup: Integrated Monitoring of Heavy Metals, Warsaw, 6-7 Oct 2003. Reports toDG ENV, Commission of the European Communities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Meeting minutes: Interim Report on”Integrated Monitoring of Heavy Metals” in the framework of the European Environment and Health Strategy

[Decision COM (2003) 338 final]. Editor: The Technical Working Group on Integrated Monitoring; subgroup: Integrated Monitoring of Heavy Metals, Warsaw, 6-7 Oct 2003. Report to DG ENV, Commission of the European Communities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe