EU Forest Monitoring and Forest Focus programme

 

Background

Protection of forests against damage from atmospheric pollution has been a major EU concern since 1987. 

To monitor pollution damage, the EU established one of the world’s largest bio-monitoring schemes.  This comprises a systematic large scale monitoring network (comprising 6,000 Level 1 plots) and an intensive forest monitoring programme (comprising 860 Level II plots).  Results, published annually by UNECE and the EU, have become a unique source of ecological reference data.

In July 2002, EU Member States proposed the ‘Forest Focus’ framework, to monitor forests and their environmental interactions until the end of 2008.  Forest Focus builds on previous schemes of information collection, but also monitors forest biodiversity, climate change, carbon sequestration and forest soils.  This supports the:

• EU Climate Change Programme
• EU Biodiversity Strategy
• Soil Strategy
• Forthcoming work on the Soil Monitoring Directives.

Forest Research involvement

Forest Research is responsible for monitoring and evaluating forest condition annually on over 350 ‘Level I’ plots, and more detailed forest ecosystem measurements at the 20 UK ‘Level II’ plots in the monitoring network.

Forest Research also jointly lead a programme to review Forest Focus in the light of international and European policies and their associated needs for monitoring.

Our other Forest Focus programmes include:

• Investigation of canopy throughfall and interception

Contact

Andy Moffat
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH

Tel: 01420 22255
Fax: 01420 23652
Email: andy.moffat@forestry.gsi.gov.uk