Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MAIL (Identifying Marginal Lands in Europe and strengthening their contribution potentialities in a CO2sequestration strategy)
Période du rapport: 2021-01-01 au 2021-12-31
The global climate change is a worldwide problem where its mitigation is one of the 17th Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. An effective mitigation strategy should assess all the possible sustainable actions that can contribute to this direction. A challenging and very prominent contribution to raise CO2 sequestration could come from the Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF sector) and the utilization of Marginal Lands (MLs) that today are widely available in the EU. MLs can play significant role as potential Carbon Sinks. Even though MLs’ contribution is acknowledged the influence of their active inclusion in the climate change mitigation strategies has not yet been estimated in depth.
MAIL focuses on m/sm MLs in order to classify them into Carbon sequestration capacity categories based on innovative approaches fully consistent with the IPCC methods and the UNFCCC requirements. The final goal is to deliver a methodology and application set in a web-based platform format, which will be valuable for policy makers, stakeholders, or researchers.
MAIL, will facilitate the appropriate exchange of experts with cumulative experience between academic and business sector, while disciplines of forestry and remote sensing will be combined for an efficient project goals implementation.
The usage of MLs as potential Carbon Sinks will contribute to the CO2 removals and enhance the agroforestry’s impact rate in the reduction of GHG. MLs could offer suitable sites to implement afforestation/reforestation projects and therefore new potential carbon sinks without being competitive with sustainable food production from agricultural lands. To that end MLs’ location, spatial distribution and suitability must be assessed in an efficient way, where thematic maps will be produced for policy makers, stakeholders and research community. MLs located in wider agricultural lands that could be characterized as fallow lands are out of MAIL’s scope, due to the possible response of farmers to new cultivation opportunities or techniques and the complex socioeconomic reasons, which in the case of m/sm areas are considered limited.
So far RS image analysis algorithms that have been developed in either commercial or open source platforms, using mostly multispectral but also panchromatic and radar images, have helped the management of vegetated land (cultivated or forested). Our purpose is to use the techniques of identification and monitoring of the MLs for their appropriate management to implement the two major actions: a) Decrease overall CO2 emissions, and b) Increase the CO2 sequestration at m/sm MLs. As a result, MAIL will contribute to the adaptation – mitigation of global warming and climate change.
The main MAIL objective is to trigger the utilization of MLs as potential Carbon Sinks, to increase sequestration of CO2 in the LULUCF sector without any impact on agri-food sector. More specifically MAIL has the following objectives:
Definition of parameters describing Marginal Land within the different European climate zones, as MLs are affected by latitude; Selection of proper base maps, considering Global, EU and regional datasets; Implementation of certain series of data processing to determine the best possible way to map/monitor m/sm MLs based on free available datasets, satellite data or open source applications; Quantification of potential CO2 sequestration capacity and sustainable utilization of MLs under the prism of LULUCF; Alternative proposals of possible vegetation species that might be used for CO2 storage on MLs considering the limited site conditions; Creation of a knowledge base and a virtual web classroom for the training of participants in advanced classification remote sensing techniques; Establishment of a permanent working team consisting of RS and Forestry experts that will focus on the MLs management at EU level.
MAIL focuses on m/sm MLs in order to classify them into Carbon sequestration capacity categories based on innovative approaches fully consistent with the IPCC methods and the UNFCCC requirements. The final goal is to deliver a methodology and application set in a web-based platform format, which will be valuable for policy makers, stakeholders, or researchers.
MAIL, will facilitate the appropriate exchange of experts with cumulative experience between academic and business sector, while disciplines of forestry and remote sensing will be combined for an efficient project goals implementation.
The usage of MLs as potential Carbon Sinks will contribute to the CO2 removals and enhance the agroforestry’s impact rate in the reduction of GHG. MLs could offer suitable sites to implement afforestation/reforestation projects and therefore new potential carbon sinks without being competitive with sustainable food production from agricultural lands. To that end MLs’ location, spatial distribution and suitability must be assessed in an efficient way, where thematic maps will be produced for policy makers, stakeholders and research community. MLs located in wider agricultural lands that could be characterized as fallow lands are out of MAIL’s scope, due to the possible response of farmers to new cultivation opportunities or techniques and the complex socioeconomic reasons, which in the case of m/sm areas are considered limited.
So far RS image analysis algorithms that have been developed in either commercial or open source platforms, using mostly multispectral but also panchromatic and radar images, have helped the management of vegetated land (cultivated or forested). Our purpose is to use the techniques of identification and monitoring of the MLs for their appropriate management to implement the two major actions: a) Decrease overall CO2 emissions, and b) Increase the CO2 sequestration at m/sm MLs. As a result, MAIL will contribute to the adaptation – mitigation of global warming and climate change.
The main MAIL objective is to trigger the utilization of MLs as potential Carbon Sinks, to increase sequestration of CO2 in the LULUCF sector without any impact on agri-food sector. More specifically MAIL has the following objectives:
Definition of parameters describing Marginal Land within the different European climate zones, as MLs are affected by latitude; Selection of proper base maps, considering Global, EU and regional datasets; Implementation of certain series of data processing to determine the best possible way to map/monitor m/sm MLs based on free available datasets, satellite data or open source applications; Quantification of potential CO2 sequestration capacity and sustainable utilization of MLs under the prism of LULUCF; Alternative proposals of possible vegetation species that might be used for CO2 storage on MLs considering the limited site conditions; Creation of a knowledge base and a virtual web classroom for the training of participants in advanced classification remote sensing techniques; Establishment of a permanent working team consisting of RS and Forestry experts that will focus on the MLs management at EU level.
MAIL successfully achieved its objectives through the implementation of 47 secondments by 37 researchers. Created a series of guides focused on RS techniques and open source data / applications for marginal land monitoring and management, for the financial, social, and technical aspects of the sustainable development of marginal lands, and compiled a report on the potentialities of emerging stock exchange markets for carbon transactions.
The MAIL web portal comprises of a set of different web-based applications that are dedicated to the identification, monitoring, and management of marginal lands. More specifically the MAIL web portal includes the following applications:
Marginal land identification on EU level based on existing open access datasets: The application can be used display the original marginal land classification that was performed during the project or to create new classification based on the selection of different layers and indicators.
The Carbon Sequestration Capacity groups layer displays the classification of marginal land in five carbon sequestration capacity classes.
The Decision support system can provide insight in the selection of the most suitable marginal land area for a reforestation project using a carbon calculator tool, a carbon projection tool, an afforestation cost calculator, and potential suitable tree species selection tool.
The identification of marginal lands using satellite images generated enhanced marginal land maps for a selected time period in a specific area.
The multi temporal analysis tool can provide information regarding deforestation detection, forest areas monitoring, and afforestation/reforestation project monitoring.
MAIL’s Massive Online Open Course titled: “Management of Marginal Lands and Carbon Sequestration estimation through Remote Sensing and GIS,” provides training, knowledge and information about the tools methodologies and techniques that were developed during the implementation of the MAIL project. The course is addressed to foresters, surveyors, remote sensing, and GIS specialists and students.
All the project’s results were disseminated through the project’s website, scientific publications, and through the organization of a 2-day workshop and a final event, where all the accomplishments of the project were presented.
The MAIL web portal comprises of a set of different web-based applications that are dedicated to the identification, monitoring, and management of marginal lands. More specifically the MAIL web portal includes the following applications:
Marginal land identification on EU level based on existing open access datasets: The application can be used display the original marginal land classification that was performed during the project or to create new classification based on the selection of different layers and indicators.
The Carbon Sequestration Capacity groups layer displays the classification of marginal land in five carbon sequestration capacity classes.
The Decision support system can provide insight in the selection of the most suitable marginal land area for a reforestation project using a carbon calculator tool, a carbon projection tool, an afforestation cost calculator, and potential suitable tree species selection tool.
The identification of marginal lands using satellite images generated enhanced marginal land maps for a selected time period in a specific area.
The multi temporal analysis tool can provide information regarding deforestation detection, forest areas monitoring, and afforestation/reforestation project monitoring.
MAIL’s Massive Online Open Course titled: “Management of Marginal Lands and Carbon Sequestration estimation through Remote Sensing and GIS,” provides training, knowledge and information about the tools methodologies and techniques that were developed during the implementation of the MAIL project. The course is addressed to foresters, surveyors, remote sensing, and GIS specialists and students.
All the project’s results were disseminated through the project’s website, scientific publications, and through the organization of a 2-day workshop and a final event, where all the accomplishments of the project were presented.
MAIL enhanced the potential and future career prospects of 37 secondees, developed new and lasting collaboration between the consortium members, contributed to the improvement of the research and innovation potential through the implementation of the geo-portal and the MOOC, can contribute ti the New EU forest strategy for 2030, The 3bn tree planting pledge for 2030, the new EU carbon farming initiative, and the mitigation of climate change effects.