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Climate-smart forestry (CSF) is considered a promising approach for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, as highlighted in several European policy documents. This paper describes a prospective approach to introducing an incentive-based scheme to facilitate the implementation of CSF through a case study in Iceland. It is argued that the payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme allows for effective CSF management and long-term sustainability if introduced in compliance with local, cultural, and social values. In a case study of an Icelandic afforestation programme, we conducted an institutional analysis of the PES scheme and assessed its effect on the sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services for the long term. We provide preliminary findings on the application of CSF in the 30-year-old Icelandic afforestation programme scheme. The perspectives of forest and policy experts, as well as local farmers participating in the scheme, were crucial for assessing the effectiveness of PES scheme performance in Iceland.

The only native tree species in Iceland forming woodland is the mountain birch. Since human settlement in the 9th century AD, natural birch woodlands have decreased from around 28% to 1.5% of the terrestrial area. In this paper we estimated and compared aboveground woody biomass stocks of two sample inventories from 1987-1988 and 2005-2011. Total above- ground woody biomass stocks in 1987-1988 and 2005-2011 were 1503 Gg (SE = 175, n= 272) and 1455 Gg (SE = 180, n= 181), respectively, for the woodland already existing in 1987-1988. The biomass estimates in 2005-2011were not significantly different from the 1987-1988 estimates in the < 2 m height class (P = 0.282) nor in the 2 - 4 m height class (P = 0.673). We concluded that the aboveground woody biomass of the natural birch woodland already existing in 1987-1991 had not changed between the two inventories. Additionally, we estimated an aboveground woody biomass increment of 37 Gg for the woodland expansion occurring between these two inventories., Ilmbjörk er eina trjátegundin sem myndar skóga og kjarr á Íslandi. Frá landnámi hefur skóglendi minnkað mikið eða frá því að þekja um 28% niður í 1,5% af flatarmáli Íslands samkvæmt úttekt sem gerð var 2010 - 2014. Við bárum saman og mátum lífmassa ofanjarðar í trjágróðri í tveimur úrtaksúttektum í náttúrulegum birkiskógum á Íslandi m.a. til að leggja mat á hvort lífmassinn hefur aukist eða minnkað á milli úttekta. Við notuðum tvær úttektir sem framkvæmdar voru með 20 ára millibili á síðustu þremur áratugum. Þar sem þessar úttektir voru töluvert frábrugðnar varðandi t.d. úrtakseiningar, úrtaksflokkun og skilgreiningu skóglendis, varð að vanda alla kvörðun og útreikninga þannig að gögnin yrðu samanburðarhæf. Lífmassi trjágróðurs ofanjarðar í flokkaðri úrtaksúttekt sem gerð var 1987-1988 var metin 1503 Gg (SE = 175, n= 272) en 1455 Gg (SE 180, n= 181) í óflokkaðri úrtaksúttekt sem gerð var á árunum 2005-2011 fyrir sama skóglendi. Tölfræðilegur samanburður á lífmassa trjágróðurs á flatareiningu í könnunum tveimur sýndi ekki marktækan mun í hvorugum hæðarflokki < 2 m (P=0,282) og 2 – 4 m (P=0,673). Okkar niðurstaða var því að ofanjarðar lífmassi trjágróðurs í náttúrlegu birkilendi á Íslandi, sem þegar var fyrir hendi 1987-1988, hafi ekki breyst marktækt. Þar fyrir utan mátum við aukningu í lífmassa í trjágróðri ofanjarðar sem 37 Gg í náttúrulegum nýgræðslum birkis á milli úttektanna tveggja., The research described in the paper was financed by Icelandic Forest Research, the research division of the Icelandic Forest Service. Analysis of the 1987-88 data was supported by the Institute of Natural History.

Urban street trees are often overlooked as essential contributors to the total urban canopy. The city centre of Reykjavik, Iceland was surveyed using random plots throughout the central portion of Reykjavik to determine species composition, structure, potential conflicts with infrastructure, and environmental benefits. In this portion of Reykjavik, 11 tree species were observed, dominated by Populus trichocarpa. For all species, the density was approximately 67 trees/km, which when compared with other Nordic cities was quite high. However, in terms of number of species, diversity was much lower compared to other Nordic cities. Street trees in this portion of the city sequester approximately 793 Mg of carbon. Value to the city summed to 15,764,000 ISK (134,000 USD), which partitioned to 187,000 ISK per kilometer or 128 ISK per capita. There were also conflicts identified with buildings and with sidewalks buckling, particularly with P. trichocarpa. Given the density and value of the trees in this portion of Reykjavik, it is imperative for additional work to be undertaken to manage the urban canopy and mitigate any costs associated with conflicts between trees and infrastructure throughout the city.

14 Pág., The quantification of forests available for wood supply (FAWS) is essential for decision-making with regard to the maintenance and enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to the global carbon cycle. The provision of harmonized forest statistics is necessary for the development of forest associated policies and to support decision-making. Based on the National Forest Inventory (NFI) data from 13 European countries, we quantify and compare the areas and aboveground dry biomass (AGB) of FAWS and forest not available for wood supply (FNAWS) according to national and reference definitions by determining the restrictions and associated thresholds considered at country level to classify forests as FAWS or FNAWS. FAWS represent between 75 and 95 % of forest area and AGB for most of the countries in this study. Economic restrictions are the main factor limiting the availability of forests for wood supply, accounting for 67 % of the total FNAWS area and 56 % of the total FNAWS AGB, followed by environmental restrictions. Profitability, slope and accessibility as economic restrictions, and protected areas as environmental restrictions are the factors most frequently considered to distinguish between FAWS and FNAWS. With respect to the area of FNAWS associated with each type of restriction, an overlap among the restrictions of 13.7 % was identified. For most countries, the differences in the FNAWS areas and AGB estimates between national and reference definitions ranged from 0 to 5 %. These results highlight the applicability and reliability of a FAWS reference definition for most of the European countries studied, thereby facilitating a consistent approach to assess forests available for supply for the purpose of international reporting., This research was supported by the Specific contract n. 18 “Use of National Forest Inventories data to estimate area and above ground biomass in European forests not available for wood supply” in the context of the Framework contract for the provision of forest data and services supporting the European Forest Data Centre 2012/ S 78-127532 of 21/04/2012 of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission; the EG-013-72 agreement of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) and the INIA belonging to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN); and the project No.APVV-15-0265 granted by the Slovak Research and Development Agency.

In Iceland, mountain birch dominates indigenous woodlands and scrub communities. For use in inventories of the natural birch population, we derived single parameter aboveground biomass functions from a stratified random sample encompassing the entire native birch population. We evaluated the accuracy of these models on independent data from the same population and used regressions of log-transformed predicted versus observed values and compared slope and intercept parameters against the 1:1 line. We propose that the level of accuracy of allometric models might be quantified by the size of Theil’s random error component (Ue) and the normality of residual variances might be a decisive test of acceptable functions. The commonly used allometric power function without intercept proved highly accurate for diameters at ground level but was biased for diameters measured at 0.5 m up the stem. We compared both non-linear regressions and log-transformed linear regression techniques. The latter produced more accurate models especially for applications to small diameter trees. Power functions with intercept and diameters measured 0.5 m above ground produced accurate estimates, except for trees with diameters less than 50 mm. We suggest allometric models for general use in Iceland for inventories of native birch woodlands and scrub, Á Íslandi er birki ríkjandi trjátegund í náttúrulegu skóg- og kjarrlendi. Við settum fram lífmassaföll fyrir birki sem byggja á lagskiptu slembiúrtaki úr öllum birkiskógum landsins. Við mátum áreiðanleika fallanna með öðru gagnasafni úr skógunum. Tekin var náttúrulegur lógarytmi af raungildum og spágildum og síðan fundið línulegt fall milli þeirra. Skurðpunktur og halli línunnar var borinn saman við línu úr upphafspunkti með hallatölu einn. Við mátum skekkju í föllunum út frá hlutdeild tilviljanakenndra frávika af óskýrðum breytileika (Theil’s Ue) og normaldreifingu frávika. Einfalt veldisfall reyndist mjög áreiðanlegt þegar þvermál er mælt við jörðu en föll fyrir þvermál 0.5 m frá jörðu reyndust gefa skekkt gildi. Við bárum saman aðferðir með ólínulegu aðhvarfi lífmassa að þvermáli og línulegu aðhvarfi náttúrulegs lógaritma að þvermáli. Seinni aðferðin reyndist gefa betri spálíkön einkum fyrir grennri tré. Veldisföll með upphafsfasta sem felld eru að þvermáli 0,5 m yfir jörðu reyndust óskekkt fyrir tré með sverari en 50 mm stofn í 0,5 m hæð. Að lokum bentum við á bestu föllin til að áætla lífmassa ofanjarðar í úttektum á Íslenskum birkiskógum.

The main objective of COST Action Usewood was to improve and harmonise data and information from National Forest Inventories (NFIs) on the potential supply of wood resources at European level considering the actual extent. This will improve the quality of data available to describe wood resources and possible wood uses. Such high quality information could be used for future scenario modelling and help inform political decision making for the renewable energy sector. The harmonisation of NFIs is based on reference definitions. Four different topics in terms of wood supply are covered and described in this chapter: forest available for wood supply, change estimation, stem quality, other wooded land and trees outside forest. These definitions will enable data comparison between countries and consequently, this will imply a transparent, comprehensive and robust information for decision-making.

Key message This analysis of the tools and methods currently in use for reporting woody biomass availability in 21 European countries has shown that most countries use, or are developing, National Forest Inventory-oriented models whereas the others use standwise forest inventory--oriented methods. Context Knowledge of realistic and sustainable wood availability in Europe is highly relevant to define climate change mitigation strategies at national and European level, to support the development of realistic targets for increased use of renewable energy sources and of industry wood. Future scenarios at European level highlight a deficit of domestic wood supply compared to wood consumption, and some European countries state they are harvesting above the increment. Aims Several country-level studies on wood availability have been performed for international reporting. However, it remains essential to improve the knowledge on the projection methods used across Europe to better evaluate forecasts. Methods Analysis was based on descriptions supplied by the national correspondentsinvolved in USEWOOD COST Action (FP1001), and further enriched with additionaldata from international reports that allowedcharacterisation of the forests in these countries for the same base year. Results Methods currently used for projecting wood availability were described for 21 European countries. Projection systems based on National Forest Inventory (NFI) data prevail over methods based on forest management plans. Only a few countries lack nationwide projection tools, still using tools developed for specific areas. Conclusions A wide range of NFI-based systems for projecting wood availability exists, being under permanent improvement. The validation of projection forecasts and the inclusion of climate sensitive growth models into these tools are common aims for most countries. Cooperation among countries would result in higher efficiency when developing and improving projection tools and better comparability among them. © 2016, INRA and Springer-Verlag France.

The supply of wood in Europe on a sustainable basis is highly relevant for forestry and related policies, particularly in relation to (i) analysing global change mitigation strategies and carbon accounting (ii) establishing realistic forecasts and targets for wood resources, biomass and renewable energy and (iii) assessing and supporting strategies for an increased use of wood. Therefore, it is relevant to have robust information of the availability for wood supply. The main aim of this paper is to harmonize the concept of ‘forest available for wood supply’ (FAWS) at European level. The data employed in this study was acquired through two questionnaires. The first questionnaire, conducted under the framework of COST Action FP1001 and a second questionnaire was completed by national correspondents and members of the UNECE/FAO. The analysis showed that reasons for the exclusion of forest from FAWS are diverse. Legal restrictions and specifically ´Protected areas´ are considered by 79% of the countries while very few countries consider economic restrictions. A new FAWS reference definition is provided and the consequences of using this new definition in eight European countries were analysed. Application of the proposed definition will increase consistency and comparability of data on FAWS and will result in decreasing the area of FAWS at a European level.

We examine the current status of greenhouse gas inventories of the sector Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), in European countries, with specific focus on the utilization of National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. LULUCF inventory is an integral part of the reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The analysis is based on two questionnaires prepared by the COST Action E43 “Harmonisation of National Forest Inventories in Europe”, which were answered by greenhouse gas reporting experts in European countries. The following major conclusions can be drawn from the analysis: 1) definitions used to obtain carbon pool change estimates vary widely among countries and are not directly comparable 2) NFIs play a key role for LULUCF greenhouse gas estimation and reporting under UNFCCC, and provide the fundamental data needed for the estimation of carbon stock changes covering not only living biomass, but increasingly also deadwood, litter and soil compartments. The study highlights the effects of adopting different definitions for two major reporting processes, namely UNFCCC and FAO, and exemplifies the effect of different tree diameter thresholds on carbon stock change estimates for Finland. The results demonstrate that more effort is needed to harmonize forest inventory estimates for the purpose of making the estimates of forest carbon pool changes comparable. This effort should lead to a better utilization of the data from the European NFI programs and improve the European greenhouse gas reporting.