CRITERIA AND INDICATORS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN GREECE The present document entitled "Criteria and indicators for the Sustainable Forest Management in Greece" is a commitment undertaken by our country from its participation in the Helsinki Process, which was taken on at the Second Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, held in Helsinki in 1993. All the Process state-members have committed themselves to develop criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management at the national, sub-national and forest management unit level. This document is a first attempt to develop criteria and indicators at the national level for the Greek forests. After the extensive destruction and great deterioration suffered by the natural environment and especially the forest ecosystems all over the earth and the climatic changes, the maintenance, stabilisation and improvement of forest ecosystems and the support of their functions constitute a first priority choice and obligation. The international community in various conferences and congresses concluded that human activities should be based on the principle of sustainability, as it was developed and conceptually integrated recently. Sustainability should be a binding principle in managing forests and natural ecosystems in general, for the material goods that can be produced by forests, as well as for their non-material goods and services. The attempt to ascertain if sustainability is implemented in forest management, made the development of evaluation tools necessary. Such tools are the criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. The framework for the development of criteria and indicators for the sustainable forest management at the national level is the list of Pan-European Criteria and Indicators adopted at the meetings that followed the Second Ministerial Conference held in Helsinki, in which Greece regularly participated. In the present document six (6) criteria, sixty two (62) quantitative and twenty four (24) descriptive indicators are developed. A considerable number of information sources were used for their development, including among others the 1992 National Inventory of Forests, the 1964 Distribution of Forests in Greece, the annual statistical data of the General Secretariat of Forests and Natural Environment, the National Statistical Service of Greece, the National Observatory of Athens and NGOs for Environmental Protection. When there were no data available, the development of the indicators was based on estimations made by foresters in research and practice, specialised in the corresponding concept areas in which the indicators are included. The indicators developed in this document are by no means definite, because progress in scientific knowledge, development of new methods for estimating the value of indicators and the active participation of the public in environmental protection will make necessary their supplementation or substitution with new indicators in the future. Criteria and indicators can besides being tools for evaluating the progress made towards sustainable forest management, be incorporated into forest policy and used as components of analysis in the development and implementation of policies, planning and programmes. The present document was drawn up by the foresters-researchers working in the Forest Management and Forest Economics Section of the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Forest Technology Products, Dr. K. Albanis, Dr. F. Galanos, Dr. L. Boskos. The foresters Mr. N. Efstathiades, Mr G. Mantakas and Mr. G Vassilopoulos also collaborated in this document. The latter attended among other things electronic data processing and diagramme and map construction. Mrs. E. Vassilopoulou, translator, attended to the correction of the text. CONTENTS Page Preface CRITERION 1 Maintenance and appropriate enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to global carbon cycles Quantitative indicators 1 Descriptive indicators 16 CRITERION 2 Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality Quantitative indicators 26 Descriptive indicators 37 CRITERION 3 Maintenance and encouragement of productive functions of forests (wood and non-wood) Quantitative indicators 45 Descriptive indicators 55 CRITERION 4 Maintenance, conservation and appropriate enhancement of biological diversity in forest ecosystems Quantitative indicators 62 Descriptive indicators 77 CRITERION 5 Maintenance and appropriate enhancement of protective functions in forest management (Notably soil and water) Quantitative indicators 86 Descriptive indicators 91 CRITERION 6 Maintenance of other socio-economic functions and conditions Quantitative indicators 96 Descriptive indicators 112 Appendix I 122 Appendix II 123 Appendix III 128 Appendix IV 144 Appendix V 147 Appendix VI 155 Appendix VII 157 - 45 - PREFACE The development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, which constitutes the object of the present document, took into consideration the list of Pan-European Criteria and Indicators adopted at the meeting that followed the Second Ministerial Conference held in Helsinki in 1993. The definitions of sustainable management, criteria and indicators are quoted in Appendix I. A considerable amount of information had to be collected for their development since criteria and indicators concern almost all forestry objectives. The main sources of necessary information collected are the following: • First National Inventory of Forests 1992 • Distribution of Forests in Greece 1964 • Annals of Forest Statistical Data of the Greek Forestry published by the General Secretariat of Forests and Natural Environment • Annual Report of the Forest Service activities published by the General Secretariat of Forests and Natural Environment • Information registered in the files of the Directorates of the General Secretariat of Forests and Natural Environment • National Statistical Service of Greece • National Observatory of Athens • General Secretariat of Research and Technology • Panhellenic Confederation Union of Agricultural Co-operation (PASEGES) • Forest Owners Association • Treatises and research works with a forestry content • University Forestry Schools and Technological Educational Foundations • Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) • Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works • Non-Governmental Organisations for Environmental Protection such as WWF Hellas, Hellenic Ornithological Society, Hunting Co-federation of Greece, Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature etc. Although the information sources were plenty, there were difficulties in finding the necessary data. These are due to the fact that there is discontinuity in keeping - 46 - statistical data by the pertinent services, and to the fact that in Greece only one National Inventory of Forests based on scientific methods has been carried out. Due to these difficulties some of the indicators could not be developed over time. Therefore, the indicator is a simple registration of the forest characteristic instead of showing its progress throughout time. Three of the indicators included in the list of Pan-European indicators were not developed due to lack of information. On the other hand, some indicators developed were not included in the list, because it is not an exhaustive one, since countries reserve the right to add or remove indicators taking into account the ecological, social and economic conditions prevailing in them. The indicators for which statistical data were insufficient, but an estimation was possible of the characteristic they represent, were developed with the aid of foresters in research and practice, specialised in the corresponding concept areas the indicators belong to. The present document consists of six (6) chapters, one chapter for each of the six Criteria. In each criterion first the quantitative indicators were developed and then the descriptive ones. Each quantitative indicator is presented by a table or a diagramme, the source of information for evaluating the reliability of the data from which they were developed and a brief comment if necessary for a better understanding of the indicator. Four descriptive indicators were developed for each criterion referring to the legal/regulatory framework, institutional framework, financial framework and informational data of the concept areas that constitute each criterion. These concept areas are printed at the beginning of the quantitative and qualitative indicators of each criterion. An effort was made to answer most of the questions included in the descriptive indicators of the list of Pan-European Criteria and Indicators in order to better clarify the current condition of the forest characteristics represented by the indicators. The document includes appendices I to VII in which the definitions of some basic concepts used in the text, certain additional information that the authors of this document considered noteworthy to be cited and the references used are mentioned. CRITERION 1 - 47 - MAINTENANCE AND APPROPRIATE ENHANCEMENT OF FOREST RESOURCES AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL CARBON CYCLES Concept Area: General capacity, Land Use and Forest area, Growing stock, Carbon Balance QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS : 1.1. Area of forest and other wooded land and its changes 1964 1992 Area Percentage Area Percentage (1000 ha) (%) (1000 ha) (%) Forest * 2 512 19.0% 3 359 25.5% Other wooded land * 3 960 30.0% 3 154 23.9% Forest and other wooded land 6 472 49.0% 6 513 49.4%