Variation of forest surface and carbon fixation in mountain areas of the Regione Veneto (Italy) and the application of the Kyoto protocol. The Parties that have signed the Kyoto Protocol must reduce global emissions of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) during the First Commitment Period (2008 -2012) by at least 5% with respect to 1990. This share is 6.5% for Italy. The Kyoto Protocol lays down some measures for reducing GHG emissions, which include actions in agriculture and forestry. it will thus be possible to take emissions and absorptions resulting from land use changes into account in the National Balances. Given the widespread forests in Italy, it is very important to have an assessment of the aptitude of this sector to act as a carbon sink. In this study we analysed the variation of forestland cover in a mountain area of the Veneto Region (NE Italy). The analysis was done by comparing aerial photos taken in 1991 with orthophotos reported to 2003, by photointerpretation of points with casual distribution on sample areas, according to a stratified sampling. We estimated a statistically relevant increment of about 0.095% of forest land only up to 1500 m compared to the estimated forest cover for 1990 (about 42 ha), underlining how this low increase is mainly due to forest management. The second step was to estimate the fixed carbon in the areas where forests increased. This was achieved by collecting biometrical data in the field, and then using allometric functions. The annual carbon sink was estimated as 0.69 Mg ha . Comparing these results with previous studies done in the pre-alpine region we estimate the annual increment of the forest area in the whole Veneto region to be about 409.94 ha and that the total carbon sink is about 282.86 Mg C year -1. A method for estimating carbon sink in afforestation/reforestation areas is proposed that could also be applied to other sites in Italy.Keywords: Kyoto Protocol, land use change, photointerpretation, carbon sink.
IntroduzioneIl Protocollo di Kyoto (PK) offre all'Italia, così come agli altri Paesi inseriti nel così detto Annesso I, la possibilità di avvalersi di una serie di attività addi zionali per il conseguimento degli obiettivi di ridu zione delle emissioni fissati a livello internazionale. Tra tali misure, previste all'art. 3.4 del Trattato, il go verno italiano ha deciso di avvalersi della sola Ge stione Forestale (Forest Management, FM) definita, ai fini dell'applicazione del PK, come un complesso di pratiche per la conduzione e l'uso sostenibile di una foresta finalizzate al conseguimento di rilevanti fun zioni ecologiche, economiche e sociali. Tali attività devono essere iniziate dopo il 1990 ed essere legate ad un'azione antropica, cioè connessa ad espliciti e diretti interventi gestionali (Ciccarese & Pettenella 2002).Secondo quanto stabilito negli Accordi di Marrake sh gli assorbimenti contabilizzati nell'ambito del FM dovranno essere ridotti dell'85% per tener conto del la naturale capacità di crescita delle foreste non ri conducibile alle pratiche colturali messe in atto dal l'uomo ed in parte imputabile alla fertilizzazione azotata legata alle stesse emissioni antropiche (Ma gnani et al. 2007). È stato inoltre fissato un limite massimo di crediti potenzialmente raggiungibili con la Gestione Forestale pari, per il nostro Paese, a 2.78 Mt di carbonio all'anno. 5: 57-67 (2008) 57 57 it).Abstract: Carbon sink in a managed beech high forest in NE Italy. According to art. 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol (KP), Italy has elected forest management as additional human-induced activity to attain the goal of reduc tion in greenhouse gas emissions. The whole forest area not subjected to afforestation, reforestation or defo restation processes since 1990 will be considered as managed forest. In order to analyse different manage ment strategies, the Carbon-Pro Project, involving 9 partners of the European CADSES area, considered a young beech high forest (ex-coppice, defined as "transitory silvicultural system") as a common case study for the Pre-alps region. Using data collected with forest plans during the period 1983 -2005, aboveground and belowground forest carbon stock and sink of a specific forest compartment were estimated by the Car bon Stock Method proposed by the IPCC Guidelines. In order to apply this approach 41 trees were cut and a species-specific allometric equation was developed. Considering the aboveground tree biomass, the carbon sink amounts to 1.99 and 1.84 Mg C ha for the period 1983 -1994 and 1994 -2005 respectively. Adding the belowground tree biomass, the estimated sink amounts to 2.59 and 2.39 Mg C ha . The case study highlights the possible rules for the different management strategies. In effect, the utilisation of the entire increase in aboveground biomass as firewood gives an energy substitution effect but, according to the Marrakesh Accords, it cannot be accounted for the KP. On the other hand, an accumula tion strategy gives the maximum possible carbon absorption and retention.Keywords: Kyo...
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