In the frame of CEETO Interreg Central Europe project (Central Europe Eco Tourism: tools for nature protection), EUROPARC Federation organises a webinar on Sustainable Tourism entitled “Monitoring & Managing visitors in Protected Areas”.

The webinar will take place on March 7th 2019 at 15:00h CET and will give an overview on the best and more cost-effective tools to monitor tourist flows in protected areas.

Tourism has been growing at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and areas of particular natural value are among those that attract a large number of visitors. The aim of the seminar is to empower all those who work in protected areas and provide recreation and tourism services or are responsible for the protection and management of protected areas in order to ensure the socioeconomic benefits of tourism, without compromising the conservation status of natural environment.

The webinar will be in the English language and its duration will be 1 hr and 15 minutes. Participation is free, but registration to the webinar is needed.

For more information please visit the following link:
https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Sustainable-Tourism–Monitoring—Managing-visitors-in-Pr.html

The post Webinar on Sustainable Tourism, Monitoring and Managing visitors in Protected Areas appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

The needs assessment identified the situation of the Forest Community (FC), as regards their knowledge and skills in undertaking forest management, and as regards available and desired tools and information. This assessment was based on the analysis of 268 questionnaires (forest managers and other stakeholders). Complementary to this quantitative research, to help assess the baseline situation, 43 semi-structured interviews and 14 focus groups have been performed (qualitative research) among the members of the FC. The findings provided input, among others, to the design of the Collaboration Platform for Forests (CPF) and the Communication Strategy which have been also released.

The content development for: a) the CPF, b) the electronic application for smartphones and tablets (e-App) and c) the training seminars, is an on-going activity. The project team constantly gathers, organises and elaborates data (such as policy documents, guidelines, technical reports, scientific publications, geospatial data, maps, photographs, projects etc.). Regarding the production of both the CPF and the e-App (e-book “The Forests of Greece” included), a joint call for tenders is going to be published soon. In what concerns capacity building actions, the organisation of the training seminars on the five project topics is going to start in 2018.

The call for tenders for the monitoring of the project’s socio-economic impact has been published at the project’s website.

Regarding dissemination actions, the project website has been launched at the beginning of the project and has already received more than 24.000 visits from about 9.000 unique visitors. Also, seven newsletters (Gr and En) comprising news of the project and other information material have been sent to some 600 recipients each. The project has its own Facebook page, Twitter and ResearchGate account and the project’s Communication Team is continuously updating and uploading website and social media content. LIFE ForestLife has a steady presence on Mass Media (articles in press and on the web, press releases), it has participated in 15 meetings/events in Greece and abroad, and has exchanged information with relevant projects and organisations in the framework of networking activities. The production of the project printed material by the Directorate General for Forests and Forest Environment is underway.

The project has contributed significantly, through its representatives from both beneficiaries, in the two very important instruments for policy making in the fields of forest conservation and management, namely the Working Groups for the drafting of: a) the National Strategy for Forests and b) the New Standards on drafting Forest Management Plans.

The post Summary on project’s progress – June 2018 appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

The European Forest Week, an initiative of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), was celebrated for the first time in 2008. Ever since, it is being organized every two years, providing a unique opportunity for participants to present the forest wealth of their country, to raise awareness on the importance of forests and to influence European policies. National and local events, competitions and exhibitions, lectures and presentations are held simultaneously in the participating countries. Past events included recreational tours in the nature of Austria, lectures on forests in Spain, film festivals for forests in the Czech Republic, working meetings on the contribution of forests to the prevention of floods in Ukraine and many more.

Key messages for 2017 European Forest Week

Europe’s forests – where biodiversity lives.

Forest policy in Europe has a strong focus on biodiversity; more than 30 million hectares of European forests are protected to conserve biodiversity and landscape. Over the last 15 years, the area of protected forests in Europe has increased annually by half a million hectares. More than 90 percent of European countries have specific objectives related to biodiversity.

Europe’s forests – for the climate!

Sustainably managed forests help to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, while providing products based on a carbon-neutral renewable resource. Forests cover more than a third of Europe’s land surface acting as a natural carbon sink as they grow. It is estimated that every year the European forest biomass sequesters an average of 719 million tonnes of CO2. This corresponds to about 9% of Europe’s annual net greenhouse gas emissions. Soil is the largest forest carbon sink, followed by the above-ground biomass, litter, below ground biomass and dead wood.

Europe’s forests – nature’s savings account

Like a savings account, the forest is growing – every year Europe gains almost 2 billion trees, the equivalent of about 900 million m3 of wood; a valuable natural resource with regaining interest as renewable long-live construction material and source of energy.

More information:

http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/european-forest-week/en/

The post European Forest Week 2017, Warsaw, Poland appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

The 11th Forest Fire Special Interest Group Workshop of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories -EARSeL, was held on 25-27 September 2017 at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh). The conference was co-organized by the Laboratory of Forest Management and Remote Sensing of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, MAICh and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The thematic sessions of the conference included, among other, the impact of climate change on forest fires, contribution of the recent ESA’s Sentinel missions on forest fire research and exploitation of Big Data and dense satellite time-series data for monitoring of forest fire disturbance.

The conference was attended by 60 researchers from Europe, USA, Canada, Russia, China, Australia and Lebanon. There were 43 papers and presentations were given by invited speakers from ESA, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, NASA and the University of South Dakota.

Among the participants were researchers with long experience in the use of remote sensing for forest fire monitoring, and who are members of advisory committees responsible for defining policies of large organizations such as ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. Discussions during the conference focused on identifying synergies and possible collaborations of satellite missions of these organisations, as well as the present and future needs on satellite data, in order to determine the characteristics of future missions accordingly. The overall aim of these conferences is to update research achievements and develop methodologies using satellite data to produce imagery products that can be exploited by public bodies for the detection and monitoring of forest fires and burned areas.

Within the framework of the conference, a field trip to Samaria Gorge was held, with the support of the Chania Directorate of Forests.

Source: https://dasarxeio.com

The post International Conference on forest fires at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

The poster of the 18th Hellenic Foresters Congress

With the topic “Hellenic Forestry facing major challenges: sustainable forest management, forest cadastre, environmental technologies-networking and nature protection”, the 18th Panhellenic Forestry Congress & International Workshop will be held at Edessa, Greece (October 8-11). The Hellenic Forestry Society organizes the congress. The International Workshop «Information Technology, Sustainable Development, Scientific Network & Nature Protection» will run in parallel with the congress. During the congress, almost 160 oral presentations have been scheduled along with 47 posters. Two very interesting round tables have also been scheduled; “A big step ahead: Forests and forests’ chain of value for sustainable development. Proposals for a new Strategy” and “The role of Scientific Networks in Nature Protection”.

Forestry congresses are organised every two years and are major events mainly, but not exclusively, for the Greek forest sector. Several scientists and professionals use to attend working in forest management, constructions, wood trade and processing, nature conservation, range management etc.The 18th Panhellenic Forestry Conference & International Workshop will be held at Watermills, a traditional village area at Varosi & Open Air Water Museum in the town of Edessa, near Thessaloniki.

The conference is under the auspices of the Hellenic Parliament, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.

More information about the conference can be found at:

http://www.forestry.gr/default.asp?sid=12482&psid=&page=

The post 18th Hellenic Foresters Congress and International Workshop appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

• Identify the main challenges and opportunities posed by changing climate patterns for sustainable forest management in the EU.
• Identify new practices and tools that maintain or increase the carbon sequestration and storage potential of EU forests in the long-term while keeping their multifunctional role.
• Identify the needs of forest managers in relation to adaptation to changing climate patterns in the EU including research and innovation needs- as well as the most promising adaptation practices (e.g. by selecting species, provenances and varieties or specific sustainable forest management practices) while keeping the multifunctional role of EU forests.
• Identify new practices and tools (including the use of digital technologies) that contribute to improving resilience of forests ecosystems to extreme weather events such as droughts, forest fires, storms and heavy snows, considering all the actors involved in managing the risks resulting from more frequent extreme events.
• Analyze possible synergies and trade-offs between mitigation practices and long-term adaptation needs.
• Provide examples of practices and tools to improve mitigation and adaptation of forests, including through better stakeholder involvement and synergies with other sectors such as agriculture and tourism.

EIP–AGRI Focus Groups (FG) are temporary groups of selected experts focusing on a specific subject, sharing knowledge and experience. These FGs have been created in the context of European Innovation Partnership (EIP) – Agricultural Operational Groups to collect and summarize knowledge on best practices in a specific field, listing problems as well as opportunities. They identify ideas for applied research and for testing solutions in the field, involving farmers, advisers, the industry and other stakeholders, and propose ways to disseminate good practices.

FG experts in the field trip during the 1st meeting.

The invited experts presented good practices, projects or tools of their knowledge related to adaptation or mitigation of climate change. In the above framework, the project LIFE+ ENV/GR/000554 AdaptFor “Adaptation of forest management to climate change in Greece” was presented to the audience. LIFE+AdaptFor (www.life-adaptfor.gr) is considered to be one of the very few examples in Greece that promotes a combination of sustainable forest management practices in order to better adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. The project has been implemented by The Goulandris Natural History Museum / Greek Biotope-Wetland Centre (EKBY) in cooperation with the Directorate General for the Development and Protection of Forests and the Natural Environment / Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change (with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community). In specific, the project’s methodology and the measures proposed and adopted for the adaptation of forest management practices to climate change in Greece were presented in the session “Providing examples of practices and tools to improve mitigation and adaptation of forests” by Ms. Evangelia Tsartsou (Executive Authority of ESI Funds on Environmental Sector / Ministry for the Environment and Energy).

The starting paper of the meeting is available on the EIP-AGRI website (https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/content/focus-groups/new-forest-practices-and-tools-adaptation-and). The 2nd meeting of FG will take place on 22-23 of November 2017.

Author: Evangelia Tsartsou

The post First EIP–AGRI Focus Group meeting: New forest practices and tools for adaptation and mitigation of climate change appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

From August 23 until early September 2007, came Mount Parnon’s turn. The great forest fire burned around 39,000 hectares of mixed forest of Black pine, Fir and Aleppo pine, 19,000 hectares of which were Black pine forests, a forest type with a slow particularly regeneration rate. This enormous area, along with the burned areas during the same period on Mount Taygetos, represent more than 3% of the area of Black pine forests within the protected areas of the European Natura 2000 network in Greece.

Photo archive of Mount Parnon Management Body, 2017

Black pine tree that was saved from the 2007 fire, surrounded by natural regeneration and planted trees of black pine.

The following year, the Forest Service of Sparti, the Greek Biotope-Wetland Centre, the Management Body of Mount Parnon and Moustos Wetland, and the Directorate of Reforestation of Eastern Macedonia – Thrace began a great effort to enhance natural regeneration through the design and implementation of a 5,300 hectares Black pine forest planting program.

The first phase of the program (design and 2,800 hectares plantations) was implemented within the framework of the LIFE PINUS project “Restoration of Pinus nigra forests on Mount Parnonas (GR2520006) through a structured approach” and was funded by the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community and the Directorate General for the Development and Protection of Forests and the Natural Environment. The restoration of the remaining 2,500 hectares of the burnt forest was funded by the EEA through the project “Restoration of the forests on Mount Parnonas and conservation guidelines for Mount Taygetos in Lakonia“.

Today, 10 years after the devastating fire, the Black pine forest covers the slopes of Parnon again, at a slow but steady rate. The burnt slopes opposite Polydroso (Tzitzina) are becoming green again due to the growth of Black pine and Fir, rending the results of this collective effort tangible, emitting a strong message of the possibilities offered by realistic and scientifically solid design and cooperation with the local community. This effort shows that forest restoration is a particularly demanding process, even under ideal conditions of funding and cooperation; subsequently, there is an urgent need to step up efforts at preventing forest fires at all levels.

Photo archive of EKBY, 2012

A restoration monitoring area of Parnon, on 2012.

Photo archive of Mount Parnon Management Body, 2017

The same monitoring area, on 2017.

Photo archive of EKBY, 2012

A restoration monitoring area of Parnon, on 2012.

Photo archive of Mount Parnon Management Body, 2017

The same monitoring area, on 2017.

More information:

Greek Biotope-Wetland Center
Dr. Petros Kakouros, Project manager of LIFE PINUS, tel. 0030 2310 473320, e-mail: petros@ekby.gr

Management Body of Mount Parnon and Moustos Wetland
Argyris Boglis, Management Body Coordinator, tel. 0030 27550 22021 (int. 4), e-mail: info@fdparnonas.gr
Katerina Pantazi, Public Relations of the Management Body, tel: 0030 27550 22021 (int. 5), e-mail: press@fdparnonas.gr

The post 10 years after the devastating fire on Mount Parnon, the Black pine forest covers its slopes again appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.

EKBY/ P. Kakouros

Parnonas, Peloponnese, Greece after the fire of 2007

Extensive forest fires of summer 2017 in Portugal and Mediterranean France highlighted once again the need to change forest fire policy, with emphasis on prevention. Prevention should not be limited to facilitation of repression (early detection of fire, adequate forest road network, organization of volunteers etc.), but should be the result of policies that reduce the chances of a fire, contribute decisively to limiting the burnt area and even minimize the risk of losses in human lives. In Greece, the debate opened following 2007 and the devastating fires of the Peloponnese.

On the occasion of the recent forest fires in Portugal and France, the European Forest Institute (EFIMED) has uploaded on YouTube an informative film (https://youtu.be/ApwsV0FFoZc?t=164), based on a 2015 publication[1]. The film focuses on four points, which can serve as keys to addressing forest fires in the Mediterranean:

The reduction of productive economic activity in the countryside. The abandonment of primary sector productive activities in the Mediterranean has led to an increase in both the area and density of forest vegetation. Gradually, the diverse agricultural and forest areas of the Mediterranean landscapes have turned into consistent, unvarying forest landscapes, with a high amount of fuel, favoring the development of extended forest fires of great intensity.

The high cost of forest fire suppression. The cost of measures to facilitate repression and extinction reaches an alarming extent, absorbing the already limited resources available to support the productive forestry sectors. As long as emphasis is given on effective suppression rather than on prevention, additional funding is needed, exacerbating the problem.

The “perfect storm” of forest fires. The impact of climate change, combined with the increase in vulnerable landscapes, the increase in the proximity of forests and inhabited areas, the deterioration of public interest in Mediterranean landscapes, and the high number of fire incidents, form the “perfect storm” of forest fires. Already, forest fire-fighting capabilities in many countries, including those with sophisticated aerial and terrestrial means, well-trained counter-powers and adequate funding, are at a marginal level.

Forest policy. A new forest policy approach is needed, aiming to restore and broaden productive management of forests and forest landscapes in order to reduce the amount of available fuel. In this way, suppression will be facilitated, with even reduced costs. In particular, it is advisable to promote chains of production and use of technical timber, the production of other forest products (other than timber), agroforestry, as well as the recognition and promotion of ecosystem services. In other words, there is a need for a bio-economy approach that has the potential not only to reduce fire risks but also to restore the capacity of Mediterranean forests to generate income.

[1] http://www.efimed.efi.int/files/images/efimed/virtual_library/reflection_on_the_bioeconomy_1.pdf

The post Preventing forest fires in the Mediterranean: management is the answer appeared first on Forest Life - Building cooperation, developing skills and sharing knowledge for Natura 2000 forests in Greece.