NATIONAL POPLAR AND COMMISSION Bucharest, Sector 2, Petricani Street, No. 9A, Postal Code: 023841 Tel +4 021 317 10 05 Fax +4 021 316 84 28

COUNTRY REPORT APRIL 2016

Activities Related to Poplar and Willow Cultivation and Utilization during the Period 2012 - 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK ...... 1 Sectoral Legislation ...... 1 Public Policies and Financing Instruments ...... 2 II. TECHNICAL INFORMATION ...... 3 1. Identification, Registration and Varietal Control ...... 3 2. Production Systems and Cultivation ...... 4 3. Genetics, Conservation and Improvement ...... 12 4. Forest Protection ...... 13 5. Harvesting and Utilization...... 15 6. Environmental Applications ...... 16 III. GENERAL INFORMATION ...... 17 1. Administration and Operation of the National Poplar Commission or equivalent Organization ...... 17 2. Literature ...... 18 3. Relations with other countries ...... 18 4. Innovations not included in other sections ...... 18 IV. SUMMARY STATISTICS (Questionnaire) ...... 19

I. POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

I. POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Sectoral Legislation In Romania, the forestry sector is an extremely developed area of interest, with economic, social and environmental implications. The surface of the national forest fund as at 31/12/2014 covered an area of 6.54 million hectares, of which there were 6.38 million hectares actually occupied by forest, the difference being represented by other uses (Source – National Institute of Statistics, http://www.insse.ro/). Cultivation and utilisation of wood from poplar and willow species is subscribed to the sectoral regulatory general framework. Management of areas comprised in the national forest fund is based on laws, government decisions, orders of the appropriate authority, instructions, technical recommendations etc., of which the most relevant are the following: a) Law no. 46/2008 – Forest Code – comprises basic regulations regarding the management of the forest fund, forest planning, biodiversity conservation, regeneration and care of forests, guarding and protection of the forest fund, fire prevention and extinction, wood exploitation, scientific research, liabilities and sanctions; b) Law no. 107/2011 on the Marketing of forest reproductive materials; c) Decision no. 924/2015 for the approval of the Regulation to capitalize wood mass from the public property forest fund d) Decision no. 470/2014 for the approval of Rules on the provenance, movement and marketing of wood materials, at the regime of warehouse of wood materials and of installations to process roundwood, as well as of measures to apply the (EU) Regulation no. 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market. e) Law no. 171/2010 on the Stabilisation and sanctioning of forest contraventions f) Order 1.648/2000 on the approval of Technical rules regarding compositions, layouts and forests regeneration technologies and afforestation of degraded lands.

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g) Law no. 100/2010 on Afforestation of degraded lands

Public Policies and Financing Instruments In addition to the existing legislative framework, the development of the forest sector in Romania is based on a series of programmatic documents, with short, medium and long-term impact, approved or being in different stages on the approval circuit. Some of these documents are visionary documents, providing concrete objectives for the forestry sector and measures to reach them, others are financing instruments circumscribed to the set goals. Among the most important documents of this type, we recall: a) The National Forest Strategy – 2013 – 2022, a document being under public debate, prior to the approval. The strategy comprises measures of the areas covered by woods, without having a distinct component regarding the fast-growing species; b) The National Rural Development Programme 2007 – 2014, a document that provided by Measure 121 the possibility to finance some private projects for the modernisation of agricultural farms, including “Investment for the establishment of forestry species with short production cycle and vegetative regeneration, for the production of renewable energy”, within the limit of EUR 700,000, with a share from 40% to 70% grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. c) The National Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, a document which provides by Submeasure 8.1 - Afforestation and creation of wood areas the possibility of private beneficiaries to obtain a grant for the afforestation of agricultural and non- agricultural lands as premiums for the installation and maintenance of crops, as well as a compensation of incomes that would have been obtained by the use of lands in agriculture. The Submeasure provides the realisation of woods, but does not distinctly consider the creation of woods from fast-growing species.

d) The program to improve environmental quality for the afforestation of degraded lands, ecological restoration and sustainable management of forests considered the financing of degraded lands afforestation projects, unfit for agricultural uses, belonging to administrative-territorial units. There was no distinct component for the financing of afforestation projects with fast-growing species.

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II. TECHNICAL INFORMATION

1. Identification, Registration and Varietal Control Providing identification, registration and varietal control is under the incidence of Law 107/2011 on the production, sale and import of forest reproductive materials. According to these laws, the National Catalogue of Basic Materials is annually approved, on categories, species and regions of origin and comprises the description details and the number/unique identification code of each source unit. The basic material is included in the National Catalogue of Basic Materials, for each source- unit only one number/code being assigned. The identity of forest reproductive materials is provided by the Identity certificate which is a form with a special regime containing security elements, is multiplied by the care of the authority and is made available to the persons authorised with certification. Throughout the production process, the manufacturer of each batch of forest reproductive material is obliged to ensure its identity and identification by drawings, as the case may be, plates, signs, labels.

The list of cultivars / clones of poplar currently admitted in the crop in Romania, are presented in the table below: Table no. 1 Year of admission in Crt. no. Cultivar/Clone Country of origin crop 1 Robusta RO-16 Romania 1961 2 Robusta RO-118 Romania 1961 3 Marilandica RO-26 Romania 1961 4 Regenerata Celei Romania 1961 5 I-214 Italy 1963 6 Sacrau 79 Austria 1972 7 I-154 Italy 1976 8 I 45/51 Italy 1976 9 I 69/55 (Lux) Italy 1976 10 Triplo Italy 1993 11 Toropogritzki Ukraine 1993 12 Turcoaia Romania 2003

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In what concerns , the selected clones admitted in production were obtained in Romania at the Bucharest Forest Research and Management Institute and have the following identification codes: - Salix alba L. ‘RO-201’, ‘RO-202’, ‘RO-204’, ‘RO-326’, ’RO-334’, ‘RO-346’, ‘RO- 892’; - S. alba x S. fragilis ‘RO-921’; - S. fragilis x S. matsudana ‘RO-1077’, ‘RO-1082’. At the International Poplar Commission three cultivars of poplar from Romania are registered, respectively x canadensis ‘Oltenița’, ‘Argeș’, and ‘Celei’. In the table below is presented the basic materials for producing the forest reproductive materials (table no. 2) Table no. 2 Crt. Basic material (ha) Species no. Selected Qualified Total 1 L. 94.00 94.00 2 Populus nigra L. 18.95 18.95 3 Populus ssp. 44.61 44.61 4 Salix ssp. 9.54 9.54 Total 112.95 54.15 167.10 During the period 2012 - 2015 no proposals were made for the registration of new cultivars of poplars or willows.

2. Production Systems and Cultivation In Romania, the crop of poplars and willows is generally practiced on lands located in the interior river valleys and in the Danube meadow and Danube Delta. These areas of crop largely represent the natural area of indigenous poplars and willows. After 1965 and until 1989, there was a genetically ameliorated poplars and willows extension policy, most of the natural stands being replaced by plantations with clones of high productivity. Today, most of the area occupied by poplars and willows is composed of artificial woods, planted, managed in the forest regime, fulfilling various functions of wood mass production or protection. Small areas, with stands of indigenous poplars and willows are managed in the coppice regime, with natural

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regeneration. The crop of poplars and willows is realised in agreement with the technical rules and recommendations, periodically updated with the result of researches in the field. (a) Forest nurseries In the case of stands created artificially, seedlings and long cuttings are used as forest reproductive materials. They are produced in forest nurseries from selected or qualified basic material. Forest seedlings grown from seed. Reproduction materials – seedlings for indigenous poplars species (P. nigra L., P. alba L.) are produced in nurseries by seeding. Seeds are harvested from seed reserves recorded in the National Catalogue of basic materials for the production of reproduction forest materials, being a material from the “selected” category and is sown in forest nurseries. Forest seedlings are obtained with the age 1 to 2 years, 1st or 2nd quality, which are later permanently replanted in the ground to create future stands.

Fig. 1 – White poplar seeding (P. alba L.) in the nursery (Pepiniera Rachelu, DS Tulcea) According to STAS SR 9503 – Poplar and willow seedlings and cuttings, the dimensional characteristics of forest seedlings are the following:

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Table no. 3 Age Minimum diameter to 5 cm Species (years) above the collar (mm) 1st quality 2nd quality Populus alba L.; Populus nigra L. 1/1; 2/2 7 5 Populus x canescens Sm 2/2; 2/3 20 12

Forest seedlings obtained from cuttings. Reproduction materials – seedlings for hybrid poplars and willow species (P. x canadensis Moench, P. x interamericana Brockh, Salix alba L.) are produced in nurseries by propagation cuttings. Cuttings are harvested from mother plant crops recorded in the National Catalogue of basic materials for the production of reproduction forest materials, being a material from the “qualified” category. Forest seedlings are obtained with the age of 1 and 2 years, 1st and 2nd quality, used for the creation of forest crops.

Fig. 2 – Euramerican poplar propagation cuttings (P. x canadensis Moench) in the nursery (Pepiniera Rachelu, DS Tulcea) According to STAS SR 9503 – Seedlings and long cuttings of poplar and willow, the dimensional characteristics of forest seedlings are the following:

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Table no. 4 Age Minimum diameter to 5 cm Species (years) above the collar (mm) 1st quality 2nd quality Populus x canadensis Moench, 1/1; 2/2 18 12 Populus x interamericana Brockh, 2/2; 2/3 35 25 Marsh Populus nigra L. 1/1; 2/2 14 8 Populus nigra var Italica Du Roi 2/2; 2/3 18 12 Populus nigra L. Thevestina Bean Populus trichocarpa Torr et Grey Salix alba L. 1/1; 2/2 15 10 2/2; 2/3 22 15 In recent years, drip irrigations and mulching foils are used in nurseries, which offers some technological and economic advantages: better survival percentages, seedlings with richer roots, good control of soil water, effective weed control etc. Poplar and willow cuttings. To create plantations, apart from seedlings, poplar and willow long cuttings are also used, forest materials produced in nurseries in specialised forest crops.

Fig. 3 – Specialised crop for the production of long cuttings (Pepiniera Pardina, DS Tulcea)

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According to STAS SR 9503 – Poplar and willow seedlings and long cuttings, the dimensional characteristics of long cuttings are the following: Table no. 5 Size Age Minimum Species Category diameter at (years) Length (cm) the thin end (mm) Populus x canadensis Moench, Short 1…2 60…70 20 Populus x interamericana cuttings Brockh, Long 1…2 400…600 *) Populus deltoides Marsh cuttings Salix alba L. Short 1…3 70…100 20 cuttings Long 2…3 200…400 30 cuttings *) Poplar cuttings have the minimum diameter at the thick end of 35 cm and the upper part at the terminal bud (b) Plantations The largest part of the areas occupied by poplars and willows in Romania is created artificially, by plantations. Choosing cultivars/clones. The clones used for the establishment of crops are from those admitted for production in Romania, and choosing them is carried out depending on the social-economic objectives of the future stand, the priority function to fulfil, production goals, stationary characteristics and species ecology. For example, if a stand will be created for economic objectives, with a priority function to produce a wood mass, with a goal to produce veneer wood, then lands with best suitability for poplars, clone I-214 will be chosen. For choosing cultivars/clones, there are especially issued rules and technical recommendations. Type of plants. In what concerns choosing the forest reproductive material (seedlings/cuttings), there are no rules that impose a certain type. However, the use of seedlings is widely performed, long cuttings being used on lands where groundwater is at a greater depth and in areas where flood waters may reach above seedlings size.

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Spacing and layout of plantation. Planting spacing are chosen depending on the production goal. Thus, crops intended for the production of small size assortment (cellulose, plywood etc.) are established at smaller schemes (4 m x 4 m, 5 m x 4 m, 5 m x 5 m), while for obtaining veneer assortments, increasingly large schemes are used (6 m x 6 m, 7 m x 7 m, 8 m x 8 m). The planting layout is most often a rectangle. Planting technology. Planting seedlings is often carried out in holes of 60 cm in depth and diameter, mechanically executed, and cuttings are planted in holes of 120…150 cm depth and 15…20 cm in diameter. Prior to this, the land is covered with land preparation works (destruction of stumps, scarification, ploughing, disking).

Tending of young plantations. Starting from the first year, plantations maintenance works are executed. They can be 2-4 every year, for 5 years. They are mechanically executed by disking in two perpendicular directions and manually around seedlings.

Fig. 4 – Willow and poplar plantation in the Danube meadow (mechanically executed holes, sizes of 60 cm in diameter and of 60 cm in depth, scheme 5 m x 4 m, rectangle layout) – OS Măcin, DS Tulcea Tending operations. Starting from the second crop year, in plantations, artificial pruning works are performed of up to 1/3 from the size of seedlings. After the age of 8 years, pruning is performed up to 2/5 in height, avoiding cutting branches with the thickness greater than 5 cm. At the age of 10 – 12 years, thinning works are carried out, usually schematic, extracting approximately 33% from the number of trees.

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Fig. 5 – Plantation of Polulus x canadensis at the age of 6 years, OS Măcin, DS Tulcea Management of poplars and willows forests. Natural stand and forest plantations with poplar and willow are subject to forest management plan and silvic regime, regardless of the owner. Rotation vary in relation with the species, production class and goals aimed.

Table no. 6 Production class/Assortments I/II III/IV V Species Stationery Timber Veneer Timber paste Populus alba L. 94,00 94,00 Populus nigra L. 18,95 18,95

For the estimation of the standing volume and dimensional sorting of the poplar and willow wooden material, cubing and sorting tables are available for , P. alba, P. nigra, P. x canadensis (global), P. x canadensis ’Robusta RO-16’, ’I-214’ and ’Sacrau 79’. Also, cubing and sorting materials are available for Salix alba (from natural regenerations, from plantations and from willow sprouts/sprouts).

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(c) Natural woods

The area of natural woods has been reduced greatly during the last decades of the past century, when clones of hybrid black poplars were promoted and willow selected from the natural range of natural poplar and willow water meadows. During the last period, there is a major concern for the identification and conservation of these natural woods, for different purposes: conservation of forest genetic resources, biodiversity conservation, creation of seed reserves, protection of banks and hydraulic works, landscape conservation, conservation of virgin and quasi-virgin forests. Therefore, they are assigned with priority with protection functions. The management regime of these woods is the coppice regime, with low regeneration cutting (simple coppice system) in the case of white poplar, black poplar and grey poplar and stands, mixed or with cutting from the pollarding (pollarding system) in the case of willow stands.

Fig. 6 – Black poplar and white poplar natural stand (OS Tulcea, DS Tulcea)

(d) Agroforestry crops and trees outside the forest In Romania, agroforestry crops are not regulated by rules or technical instructions, and practices of this type are isolated and on insignificant areas.

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Hybrid black poplars were used extensively for alignments along communication routes (roads, railways etc.), but a large part of them was exploited without being replaced. Poplars and willows could play an important part in the creation of future shelterbelts for agricultural fields and communication routes, Romania having in the project stage the realisation of a national shelterbelts system.

3. Genetics, Conservation and Improvement Conservation. In Romania, concrete actions as regard identification, delimitation and description of forest genetic resources have undertaken after 1990, within the Forest Research and Management Institute, when Romania signed the Convention on the Forests Protection in Europe (Strasbourg, 1990).

The work methodology was developed by Enescu (1993) and was aligned with the recommendations of the Follow up Committee for implementation of Resolution 2 of the Convention. The action began in 1993 and was finished in 1996 when was made the first database and was elaborated the first national catalogue of forest genetic resources. The national catalogue was revised in 2012 (Pârnuță et al., 2012) and totalize 19889.6 ha, of which 57.2 ha of Populus alba and 22.9 ha of Populus nigra respectively (table no. 7).

It was aimed the conservation of forest genetic resources for the main forest species with considering both the inter and intrapopulational genetic diversity as fundamental components of biodiversity. It took into consideration the conservation of the most valuable populations, both natural or artificial.

A FGR consists of a nucleus, which constitutes proper resource with a minimum area of 10 hectares and a buffer zone that surrounds the nucleus and serves as insulation and protects it. Poplars forest genetics resources are presented in the table below.

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Table no. 7 RFG conserved RGF conserved Total on-site off-site Species S S S S total S total S total nucleus nucleus nucleus (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) Populus alba L. 31.69 41.50 13.70 15.70 45.39 57.20 Populus nigra L. 13.96 22.90 0.0 0.0 13.96 22.90

Improvement. In 2014, within the Project EW13/14: “Testing of poplar clones from EU member states for the use in short rotation coppice”, coordinated by ASP Teisendorf, there were established two trials with 21 new clones of poplars. The research institutes, the owners of the deliverable clones, are from following countries: Belgium, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary. One experiment was established in the delta of Danube (Nufăru) and the other in steppe site conditions (Baragan).

Results after the second growing season highlighted a high variability among tested clones for growth traits, bud flushing and survival in both experimental trials. In each experiment there are clones which exhibit exceptional growth performances and exceed the control clone (I214) with values between 18% to 33% at Baragan, and 19% to 58 % at Nufaru. Results recommend the use of clones in other site conditions, than those known so far for the poplars culture in Romania. Also, the most valuable clones could be designated as tested sources and certificated for producing the forest reproductive materials.

4. Forest Protection During the reporting period, poplars and willows stands were affected by some harmful factors (biotic and abiotic), the most relevant of which are described below:

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(a) Biotic factors Pests. Among the pests with a major impact on the health status and productivity of poplar and willow forests, the most important are the defoliating Lymantria dispar, Nycteola asiatica, Pygaera anastomosis, Melasoma populi, Hyphantria cunea. The largest areas were infected annually by the pest Lymantria dispar, the evolution of areas being presented in the table below.

Table no. 8 Area (ha) Year Pest With a very Total high intensity 2012 2,760 50 2013 5,151 1,950 Lymantria dispar 2014 5,617 3,074 2015 1,045 545 Total 14,573 5,619

For areas with a high intensity, steps to apply the fighting treatments were taken. In 2012, terrestrial treatments with viral products were applied, in 2013 and 2014 chemical treatments were applied with the Dimilin 48 SC product, as well as treatments with viral preparations. In 2015, treatments with biodegraded preparations, viral (Inf-ld) and mycotic preparations were exclusively applied. Among wood pests, during the reporting period, infestations with populnea, Saperda carcharias, Paranthrene tabaniformis, suvorovi populneus, Aegeria apiformis were recorded on reduced areas.

For the prevention of losses at economic level, treatments with synthesis pyrethroids with a very good efficiency were applied from the ground. Diseases. Among the diseases that affected poplar and willow forests, those caused by leaf parasites are to be mentioned (Melampsora alli-populina, Melampsora larici- populina, Marssonina brunnea), but the level of affectation was a very low one, rarely medium or high. These diseases did not cause significant losses. Pseudomonas

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syringae f. populea was signalled as a pathogenic agent at the level of young plantations and of mature stands. To mitigate the damage caused by diseases, preventive steps to promote in crop resistant clones were taken (black poplar, I-214) or curative, to eliminate affected trees by tending operations, to eliminate affected branches, trees etc.

(b) Abiotic factors

Among the most common abiotic factors which affect poplar and willows stand, prolonged floods can be mentioned, which may affect plantations and even the stand, excessive drought in the case of plantations and stands that do not benefit from the intake of flood waters, breakages and windfalls or windbreakages of seedlings strains during the frost periods of flood waters. The affectation of plantations and stands by abiotic factors was recorded on relatively low areas, without significant consequences at economic level. Preventive measures in this case aimed only at silvicultural measures (choosing more resistant clones, executing silvic works during optimal periods etc.).

5. Harvesting and Utilization (a) Harvesting poplars and willows During the reporting period, technologies regarding harvesting, collection and transport of poplar and willows woods was not substantially modified. As methods of operation, the tree length system is used, some machines being replaced with more modern ones, with high productivity, more reduced and environmentally-friendly consumption of fuels and lubricants.

In Romania, harvesting and collection of the wood mass is regulated by technical instructions with regard to the deadlines, modalities and periods of collection, removal and transport of the wooden material. The maximum area on which clear cuttings are allowed is of 3 hectares, and starting with 2015 in enclosed area, the maximum area was modified to 5 ha (Law 133/2015).

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(b) The use of poplar and willow wood for various wood products Poplar and willow wood is increasingly sought in the last period. After a period of decrease of the interest in small poplar and willow wood following dissolution of many processing capabilities in Romania, in recent years, a demand increase is felt. Particularly from poplar wood, the entire range of wood products is manufactured, with the most diverse uses: veneer, saw timber for the furniture industry, plywood, fibreboards, MDF, OSB, packaging etc., the willow having however fewer industrial uses following the lower technological characteristics of poplars. (c) Use of poplar and willow wood as a source of bioenergy There are investors increasingly interested in the alternative of energy production, but until now, there are no data regarding the establishment of poplar or willow crops for this purpose or regarding the development of capacities for energy production.

6. Environmental Applications Poplars and willows were used in the past on a large scale for the creation of shelterbelts for the protection of communication ways. The use of poplars and willows was utilised in projects to improve degraded lands together with other forest species that best served to the environmental objective, without being a preference for the promotion of poplar and willow species.

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III. GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Administration and Operation of the National Poplar Commission or equivalent Organization The National Poplar and Willow Commission (CNPS) from Romania is operating within the National Forest Administration (Regia Națională a Pădurilor – Romsilva), the state-owned forests administrator, as an advisory body.

The CNPS componence was not modified since 2009, having the following structure: Executive Office – 7 members, President: Gheorghe NICHIFOREL Vice-president: Mihai FILAT Secretary: Bogdan POPA Working groups: (1) Genetics, improvement and conservation 5 members (2) Crop technologies 5 members (3) Fighting diseases and pests 5 members (4) Wood exploitation and use 5 members (5) Applications in environmental protection 5 members Contact: Address: Bucharest, Petricani Street, No. 9A, Sector 2, Postal Code 023841 Tel: +40 21 317 10 05

Fax: +4 021 316 84 28 E-mail: [email protected] The CNPS activity was quite reduced in the last period following the various modifications that occurred in its structure. Among the difficulties encountered,

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primarily, there are the financial ones, the commission not having allocated a functioning budget of its own.

2. Literature Without relevant data.

3. Relations with other countries A reference project on the line of poplar cultivation is the one regarding the Testing of poplar clones from EU member states for the use in short rotation coppice, (EW 13/14) being under the coordination of ASP Teisenndorf, having as a national partner the National Institute for Forest Research and Development ”Marin Drăcea” (former ICAS). With regard to the species conservation activities, within the project Inventorying and mapping the areas with black poplar specimens from the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, identification, characterisation and mapping activities for black poplar specimens were carried out. The project was implemented by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration and was financed by the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 (SEE Programme 2007-2013), being part of the DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 - Anchoring the Danube River Network of Protected Areas as Platform for Preservation of Danube Heritage, Package 4, activities 4.1. regarding the inventory and mapping of black poplar populations (Populus nigra L.) from the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.

4. Innovations not included in other sections Without relevant data.

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IV. SUMMARY STATISTICS (Questionnaire)

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