Kalliopi Radoglou1, Argyro Zerva2, Dimitris Zianis1, Charalambos Petsikos1 1NAGREF- Forest Research Institute, Vassilika, Thessaloniki, Greece e-mail:radoglou@fri.gr 2Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Directorate of Forest Resources Development 31 Chalkokondili str., 101 64 Athens, Greece Greece’s current LULUCF sector and work under Kyoto Protocol’s art. 3.3 and 3.4 JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

1. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS The Ministry of Environment (MINENV) is the competent authority for Kyoto Protocol implementation by Law 3017/2002 (Kyoto Protocol ratification) is the coordinator of other competent ministries, public and private bodies for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol has the overall responsibility for the national inventory JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

1. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS National Technical University of Athens (NTUA): Responsible for the data compilation, estimation and reporting under the Convention Ministry of Rural Development & Food: responsible for providing data to MINENV for LULUCF and for data compilation and GHG estimation under the Kyoto Protocol art. 3.3 and 3.4 Currently, exploring the possibility for GHG Inventory preparation for LULUCF under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol by a single institution JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

1. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS The Forest Research Institute of Thessaloniki has been designated, in September 2008, by the Ministry of Rural Development & Food to conduct a project for the improvement of the National System (Responsible Dr. K.Radoglou) - A technical team has been established comprising relevant expertise, to: review reporting requirements under KP, assess current LULUCF reporting under the UNFCCC, suggest improvements to the national system for reporting LULUCF and develop methodology for identification of areas with activities under Article 3.3 and 3.4 define procedures to be followed and projects that should be conducted within the National System in order to achieve complete and accurate GHGs estimation and reporting JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

2. Current GHG INVENTORY for LULUCF Completeness of emission / removal inventory IPCC Source / Sink categories CO2 CH4 N2O A. Forest Land 1. Forest Land remaining Forest Land √ 2. Land converted to Forest Land B. Cropland 1. Cropland remaining Cropland ΝΟ 2. Land converted to Cropland ΝΟ 1) C. Grassland 1. Grassland remaining Grassland 2. Land converted to Grassland D. Wetlands 1. Wetlands remaining Wetlands 3) 2. Land converted to Wetlands ΝΕ 2) ΝΕ E. Settlements 1. Settlements remaining Settlements 3) 2. Land converted to Settlements F. Other Land 1. Other Land remaining Other Land 3) 2. Land converted to Other Land 3) In the current NIR GHG emissions and removals from LULUCF have been estimated according to GPG for LULUCF. JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

2. Current GHG INVENTORY for LULUCF Key categories in the LULUCF sector IPCC Source / Sink Category Greenhouse Gas Level assessment Trend assessment Forest Land remaining Forest Land CO2 √ Cropland remaining Cropland Land converted to Forest Land It has been performed Level assessment and trend assessment for the key categories in the LULUCF The Living Biomass subcategory was identified as key subcategory in all the three categories JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

2. Current GHG INVENTORY for LULUCF Methodology for the estimation of emissions / removals from LULUCF  IPCC Source / Sink Categories CO2 CH4 N2O   Method Emission factor  A. Forest Land A1. Forest Land remaining Forest Land D, CS, T2, T11) CS2), D 3) T1 D Living Biomass D, T2, CS CS, D Dead Organic Matter T1, T2 Soils A2. Land converted to Forest Land  B. Cropland B1. Cropland remaining Cropland T2, T1 T2 CS  C. Grassland C1. Grassland remaining Grassland C2. Land converted to Grassland JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

2. Current GHG INVENTORY for LULUCF Net GHG emissions / removals (in kt CO2 eq) from the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector by category (bars) and total (line) for the period 1990 – 2006 The magnitude of the LULUCF sink increased by 62% from 1990 to 2006 Fluctuations in GHG removals are mainly attributed to fluctuation in areas of Forest Land burnt by wildfires each year Grassland category appears as a small source of CH4 and N2O due to emissions during wildfires JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

1. Proposed Improvements Representation of land areas GHG Inventory 2009 2010 GPG Approach 1 / 2 3 Combination of existing databases: 1st NFI (GSFNE, 1992, 1994) ‘Agricultural Statistics of Greece’ (NSSG, annual census) Afforestation registry and statistics of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food ‘Distribution of the Country’s Area by Basic Categories of Land Use’ (NSSG, decennial survey) Development of the National Land-Use Inventory Land Use Maps 1990-(2000)-2008-2012 ..with EO data Forest Maps from Forest Management Plans Afforestation registry and statistics of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food LUC maps from local Forest Services JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

2. Proposed Improvements CHANGE IN CARBON STOCKS IN LIVING BIOMAS Forest land remaining Forest land & art. 3.4 Forest Management GHG Inventory 2009 2010 Estimation method: Carbon flux approach Stock change method Disaggregating level: National Local Data acquisition: NFI Forest management plan Land converted to Forest land & art. 3.3 Afforestation/Reforestation/Deforestation Tier used: 1 2 JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

3. Proposed Improvements Stock change method (GPG page 3.24 eq. 3.2.3) - the annual change in carbon stocks in living biomass in forest land remaining forest land is estimated through ΔC = (C t2 – C t1) / (t2 – t1) Where: Ct1 = the total carbon in biomass in time t1 Ct2 = the total carbon biomass in time t2. C = [V ● D • BEF] ● (1 + R) ● C V= merchantable volume, m3 ha-1 D= basic wood density, tonnes d.m. m-3 merchantable volume BEF= biomass expansion factor for conversion of merchantable volume to aboveground tree biomass, dimensionless CF= carbon fraction of dry matter (default = 0.5), tonnes C (tonne d.m.)-1 R = root-to-shoot ratio, dimensionless Root-to-shoot ratio (R) is also used for below ground biomass carbon. The carbon stock change method requires biomass carbon stock inventories for a given forest area at two points in time. Biomass change is the difference between the biomass at time t2 and time t1, divided by the number of years between the inventories. The default method is applicable for all tiers, while the data requirements for the stock change method exclude this option for the Tier 1 approach. In general the stock change method will provide good results for relatively large increases or decreases of biomass, or where very accurate forest inventories are carried out. However for forest areas of mixed stands, and/or where biomass change is very low compared to the total amount of biomass, there is a risk with the stock change method of the inventory error being larger than the expected change. In such conditions incremental data may give better results. JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

4. Proposed Improvements Stock change method (application in Greece) existing information on D, BEF and R for Greek forest ecosystems is not adequate -the European generalized allometric biomass equations will be used (Zianis, 2003; Muukkonen, 2007) -in case, equations for some species are not available we will use relationships developed for species growing in other Mediterranean countries after validating them against existing values for Greek species JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

5. Proposed Improvements Case study the forest of Seli (Central Macedonia) has been used for the implementation of the approach - the distributions of the DBH were derived from the management plan for each stand (123 in total) and the allometric equations were applied to them for year 1992. For Fagus sp. and Quercus sp. the generalized equations developed by Muukkonen (2007) were used. JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

6. Proposed Improvements Case study (cont.) -For Pinus nigra the equation by Fattorrini et al (2005) was used. Validation against values from other Pinus nigra forests in Greece gave a deviation of less than 6%. -For belowground biomass the root-to-shoot ratio (R) will be derived from the literature. -For biomass conversion to carbon, the default value of 0.5 will be used (GPG page 3.25). JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

7. Proposed Improvements Case study (cont.)- Aboveground biomass distribution of forest stands (year 1992) The boundaries of the forest stands were digitized and georeferenced in a GIS database. JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

8. Proposed Improvements Next step The same approach will be applied for the DBH distributions for 2002 (derived from the forest management plan) and thus the data for eq.3.2.4 (GPG page 3.24) will be available for the forest under study. JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

9. Proposed Improvements - For evergreen broadleaved stands, values from literature will be compiled, and after reviewing will be applied to the data derived from forest management plans. -Forest management plans will be the basic source of information (DBH distribution and area coverage per species) for estimating C stock change in living biomass for each stand. C STOCKS ESTIMATION IN: SOIL, LITTER, DEAD WOOD -measurements in permanent plots (existing and new that will be selected by the end of 2008) covering the entire country JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra 13-14 November 2008

Thank you REFERENCES Fattorini, L., Gasparini, P., Nocetti, M., Tabacchi, G., Tosi, V. 2005. Above-ground tree phytomass prediction and preliminary shrub phytomass assessment in the forest stands of Trentino. Studi Trent. Sci. Nat., Acta Biol., 82: 5-52. Muukkonen, P. 2007. Generalized allometric volume and biomass equations for some tree species in Europe. Eur. J. For. Res., 126:157-166. Zianis, D., Mencuccini, M. 2003. Aboveground biomass relationships for beech (Fagus moesiaca Cz.) trees in Vermio Mountain, Northern Greece, and generalised equations for Fagus sp. Annals For. Sci 60:439-448.