MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY NATIONAL FORESTRY ACCOUNTING PLAN (NFAP) GREECE MARCH 2020 Greece - NFAP 1 Authors Ministry of Environment & Energy/ National Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, with the contribution of YLORIKI Co. YLORIKI Co: F. FASOULAS – N. MANTZIOS/ Company for Protection, Management and Restoration of Natural Environment. Greece - NFAP 2 CONTENTS Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1: General Introduction .............................................................................................. 5 1.1 General description of the forest reference level for GREECE ...................................... 5 1.2 Consideration to the criteria as set in Annex IV of the LULUCF Regulation ................. 5 Chapter 2: Preamble for the forest reference level................................................................. 8 2.1 Carbon pools and greenhouse gases included in the forest reference level ................ 8 2.2 Demonstration of consistency between the carbon pools included in the forest reference level ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Description of the long-term forest strategy ................................................................. 9 2.3.1 Overall description of the forests and forest management in GREECE and the adopted national policies ................................................................................................. 9 2.3.2 Description of future harvesting rates under different policy scenarios ............ 16 Chapter 3: Description of the modelling approach ............................................................... 19 3.1 Description of the general approach as applied for estimating the forest reference level ..................................................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Documentation of data sources as applied for estimating the forest reference level ............................................................................................................................................. 20 3.2.1 Documentation of stratification of the managed forest land .............................. 20 3.2.2 Documentation of sustainable forest management practices as applied in the estimation of the forest reference level ........................................................................ 22 3.3 Detailed description of the modelling framework as applied in the estimation of the forest reference level.......................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4: Forest reference level ........................................................................................... 28 4.1 Forest reference level and detailed description of the development of the carbon pools .................................................................................................................................... 28 4.1.1 Documentation of forest characteristics at the beginning of the FRL projection 29 4.1.2 Documentation on increment ............................................................................... 35 4.1.3 Documentation on historical and future harvest disaggregated between energy and non - energy wood ................................................................................................... 45 4.1.4 Natural disturbances – Fire .................................................................................. 48 4.1.5 HWP pool ............................................................................................................... 49 4.2 Consistency between the forest reference level and the latest national inventory report .................................................................................................................................. 51 4.3 Calculated carbon pools and greenhouse gases for the forest reference level ......... 56 References ............................................................................................................................... 57 Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................. 58 Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................. 60 Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. 62 Appendix 3 .............................................................................................................................. 67 Greece - NFAP 3 Introduction The Greek National Forestry Accounting Plan (NFAP) is prepared in the framework of Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry in the 2030 climate and energy framework (LULUCF Regulation), and amending Regulation (EU) 525/2013 and Decision 529/2013/EU. The Plan contains the Greek Forest Reference Level (FRL), for the period from 2021 to 2025, in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 8 of the LULUCF Regulation. The NFAP has been prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Energy/ National Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, with the contribution of YLORIKI Co. The Ministry of Environment and Energy is the governmental body responsible for the development and implementation of forest and environmental policy in Greece, as well as for the provision of information concerning the state of the environment in Greece in compliance with relevant requirements defined in international conventions, protocols and agreements. It has the overall responsibility for the NFAP and the official consideration and approval of the plan prior to its submission. Moreover it is responsible for the co-ordination of all involved ministries, as well as any relevant public or private organization, in relation to the implementation of the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, according to the Law 3017/2002 with which Greece ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Yloriki Co is responsible to contribute in data collection and analysis, calculation of FRL, composition of NFAP and supporting the Ministry of Environment and Energy after the submission of the NFAP. The NFAP is organized into four chapters, accompanied by three Appendixes. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction of the forest reference level and how it addresses the criteria set out in Annex IV of the LULUCF Regulation. Chapter 2 provides general information on the FRL, including the description of carbon pools and greenhouse gases included and its consistency with the GHG Inventory, and the description of the long-term forest strategy. Chapter 3 describes the modeling approach applied for estimating the FRL, including background data sources, equations and assumptions, and its consistency with the GHG Inventory. Chapter 4 provides a detailed analysis of the calculation of the FRL. Greek FRL for the period 2021-2025 is equal to -3,038.67 kt CO2 eq. yr-1. This corresponds to the annual average value of the aggregated CO2 , CH4 and N2O emissions and removals in Forest Land (FL: Managed). Greece - NFAP 4 Chapter 1: General Introduction 1.1 General description of the forest reference level for GREECE Greek FRL for the period 2021-2025 is equal to -3,038.67 kt CO2 eq. yr-1. This corresponds to the annual average value of the aggregated CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions and removals in Forest Land (FL: Managed) as reported in Table 1 below Kt CO2 eq. 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Average CO2 (living -2,780.59 -2,910.79 -2,826.88 -2,928.15 -2,884.75 -2,866.23 biomass) CO2 (HWP_FOD) -161.01 -187.11 -165.99 -183.84 -170.02 -173.59 CH4 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 N2O 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Total CO2 eq. -2,940.44 -3,096.74 -2,991.71 -3,110.83 -3,053.61 -3,038.67 (HWP_FOD) Total CO2 eq. -2,779.43 -2,909.63 -2,825.72 -2,926.99 -2,883.59 -2,865.07 (HWP_IO) Table 1: Forest Reference Level (FRL) 1.2 Consideration to the criteria as set in Annex IV of the LULUCF Regulation Criterion (a): the reference level shall be consistent with the goal of achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, including enhancing the potential removals by ageing forest stocks that may otherwise show progressively declining sinks. According to the above the average C stock of Greece should be increased across time. This is assured by the sustainability principals that forest management is using in Greece. Protection of forests and a sustainable ratio between increment and harvest contribute to this goal. It is depicted by the negative flux of CO2 reported. Criterion (b): the reference level shall ensure that the mere presence of carbon stocks is excluded from accounting. According to this criterion the Business As Usual (BAU) scenario should not be modified in order not to have neither CO2 removals nor CO2 reductions. In Greek FRL no assumptions of changing the BAU scenario have been taken. This is ensured by the continuation of sustainable forest management or protection of the areas. Criterion (c): the reference level should ensure a robust and credible accounting system that ensures that emissions and