Studying the implications of revegetation
CARBO-INVENT has developed, identified and tested methods for evaluating forest carbon (C) stock changes at national and EU levels in order to report under the Kyoto Protocol (KP). The methods used to enhance accuracy and reduce costs were several including soil C assessments and forest inventories. The main criteria involved at the national level include: the definition of forest, clarification of the concepts of "human-induced" and "at maturity" and setting up the hierarchy of Art. 3.4. The latter involves activities related to cropland management and grazing land management. Since RV can differ greatly within a country, the relevant selected criteria at the national level may or may not be cost effective. Selection of criteria is based upon comparisons between benefits of carbon-sink increasing as a result of RV activities and the cost related to the inventory and monitoring of RV. The Mediterranean was one of the test sites where the methods and integration techniques were applied. Through the analysis of data on forest land, vegetation expansion was shown to be mainly concentrated in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, Corine Land Cover (CLC) maps in Italy provided a broad estimate of land undergoing RV. A detailed study in the South of Italy confirmed that the CLC is not an appropriate tool to monitor RV activities. This is because the undetected land-use change area is not minor in terms of surface. Further studies need to be developed to understand the extension such processes have in the area. This will help to correct the estimate of C accumulation after land abandonment. Also additional analysis and information needs to be collected on the biomass and carbon dynamics in order for existing gaps to be filled.
