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

2. 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 November 2008

3. 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 November 2008

4. 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 November 2008

5. 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 November 2008

6. 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 November 2008

7. 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 November 2008

8. 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 November 2008

9. 1. Proposed Improvements
Representation of land areas
GHG Inventory
GPG Approach /
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) 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 November 2008

10. 2. Proposed Improvements
CHANGE IN CARBON STOCKS IN LIVING BIOMAS
Forest land remaining Forest land & art. 3.4 Forest Management
GHG Inventory
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:
JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra November 2008

11. 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 November 2008

12. 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 November 2008

13. 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 November 2008

14. 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 November 2008

15. 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 November 2008

16. 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 (GPG page 3.24) will be available for the forest under study.
JRC LULUCF Workshop, Ispra November 2008

17. 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 November 2008

18. Thank you
REFERENCES
Fattorini, L., Gasparini, P., Nocetti, M., Tabacchi, G., Tosi, V 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 Generalized allometric volume and biomass equations for some tree species in Europe. Eur. J. For. Res., 126:
Zianis, D., Mencuccini, M Aboveground biomass relationships for beech (Fagus moesiaca Cz.) trees in Vermio Mountain, Northern Greece, and generalised equations for Fagus sp. Annals For. Sci 60: