2000 Report on the forest condition in Europe
Copyright 2000 Commission of the European Communities RAPID
October 10, 2000
The European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) have published their annual report on the forest condition in Europe with the results of the crown condition assessment and of the intensive monitoring programme in European forests. This report provides important information for policy makers and the public on the situation of European forests. It shows there is no overall improvement of the vitality of the forests and that great regional differences in development of the situation exist. Further reduction of emissions is still needed to guarantee the multiple functions of forests in Europe as a basis for a sustainable forest management.
1. RESULTS OF THE CROWN CONDITION ASSESSMENT
Throughout Europe 36.3 % of the assessed trees are classified as "healthy"(no loss of needles and leaves), about 41 % are in the "warning stage" and 20% of all trees are rated "damaged", since they show more than 25% defoliation. The degree of damage (all trees with more than 25% defoliation) stayed the same for conifers and broadleaves.
These results confirm the general trend of deterioration of the crown condition for the main tree species over the last years. This long-term development must be seen in a differentiated way for each tree species and for individual regions separately. There is clear improvement for western and central European regions and a worsening in the Mediterranean regions. In these regions the mean defoliation of nearly all tree species has increased considerably during the last five years. For the Central and Northern regions in Europe there are no clear trends.
On average the crown condition (defoliation) in Europe between 1992 and 1999 worsened on approximately 30% of the observation plots and improved on only 15% of the plots.
2. INTENSIVE MONITORING PROGRAMME
At present, the Intensive Monitoring network consists of 864 plots in 30 countries with harmonised methods. On those plots the vitality and nutrient status of trees and the ground vegetation is monitored, in combination with data on air pollution (nitrogen, ozone, sulphur) and climate
Some main findings of the recently completed Technical Report 2000 "Intensive Monitoring of Forest Ecosystems in Europe" can be summarised as follows:
First results show that atmospheric nitrogen and sulphur deposition do affect the nutrient status and to a lesser extent tree vitality. In 30% of the plots the nutrient status is insufficient or unbalanced and
In line with the emission reductions, sulphur deposition has decreased much more than nitrogen deposition in the last decade at most plots in European Forests. On about 50% of the plots, N-deposition is above 14 kg Nitrogen per ha/yr. Above that level adverse effects may occur, specifically on the ground vegetation.
3. BACKGROUND
In 1985 the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on forests (ICP Forests) was established within the framework of the Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE). In 1986 the Member States of the European Union (EU) agreed on the European Union Scheme on the Protection of Forests against Atmospheric Pollution (Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86) and contributed to the implementation of clean air policies at European level. The participating countries decided to obtain information on the forest condition through a common monitoring in two intensity stages:
The extensive monitoring on a systematic sampling network includes the annual assessment of crown condition of the trees, their nutrition and the forest soil condition on an extensive scale. This monitoring intensity stage is designated as "level I" and was created in 1986 with the crown condition assessment. The principal goal of level I is to obtain information on the development of the crown condition on European scale in connection with possible causes including air pollution. The extensive monitoring at level I covers at the moment about 5,700 plots in a systematic 16x16 km sampling network representing nearly 129,000 trees. In these surveys all EU Member States as well as 15 Non - EU countries take part.
The intensive monitoring, in addition to crown condition, soil condition and nutritional status, assesses increment, vegetation, deposition and meteorological conditions in detail. This intensive monitoring stage is called "level II" and exists since 1994 (regulation (EC) No. 1091/94). The principal aim of level II is to obtain information about development and relationships between location and stress factors on the one hand and the forest condition on national and European level on the other hand. For the time being the number of permanent level II observation plots is 864.
4. CONCLUSIONS
During its 14 years of existence, the collective monitoring of forest condition of the UN/ECE and EU has developed into one of the world's largest biomonitoring systems and constitutes a unique source of ecological reference data for multipurpose use in science and forestry as well as in the fields of environment, climate change, biodiversity and sustainable forest management.
Since the establishment of the programme sulphur emissions have been considerably reduced on the European scale and a large number of measures have been undertaken to achieve comparable and necessary results with other pollutants. The proposal for a "Directive on National Emission Ceilings for Certain Atmospheric Pollutants" common position in June 2000 and the "Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone" signed by 27 parties under the UN-ECE Convention in December 1999 are two of the latest measures on the European scale. The programme will in the future help to verify the effects of these measures on forest ecosystems.
Further reduction of emissions is still needed to guarantee the multiple functions of forests in Europe as a basis for a sustainable forest management!
The report will shortly be available on the internet at the address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg06/fore/index_en.htm
More information can be obtained from:
European Commission Federal Research Centre for Forestry and DG Agriculture F.I.3 Institute for Forest products Rue de la Loi 130
Leuschnerstrasse 91 B-1040 BRUSSELS D-21031HAMBURGBelgium Germany
FAX: 00 32 2 296 62 55 FAX: 00 49 40 739 62/480