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Land use inventories are sound measures to provide information on the area occupied by different land use or land cover types and their changes, although less widespread than traditional mapping; as such, they are distinctively well-established tools for generating statistics on the state and the dynamics of land use in the European Union. Italy has recently set up a land use inventory system (IUTI) as a key instrument for accounting removals and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated to land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities elected by Italy under the Kyoto Protocol. IUTI adopts a sta­tistical sampling procedure to estimate the area covered by LULUCF land use categories in Italy, and associated uncertainty estimates. Estimates of land use have been so far processed for the period 1990-2008 and highlight three interlinked land use change patterns in Italy: (i) increase in forest land for a total uptake of 1.7% of the Italian territory; forest cover estimates, with a standard error of 0.1%, indicate an annual increase of forestland higher over the period 1990-2000 (32 901 ha year-1) than in 2000-2008 (22 857 ha year-1); surpri­singly, also a significant deforestation rate is observed (-7000 ha year-1), due to forest land conversion mainly into artificial areas; (ii) consumption of arable land (-4.2% of the Italian territory) primarily due to land uptake by urban areas and to conversions to permanent crops (mainly orchards and vineyards); (iii) urban sprawl uptakes 1.6% of the Italian territory in this period, with a total coverage of settlements reaching 7.1% of total land surface in Italy in 2008. Overall, land use dynamic results in land uptake by forest land is of the same magnitude of land uptake by urban areas, but the effects of these processes on GHG removals (by forest sinks) and emissions (by urban areas) is expected to be significantly different. In a broader perspective, IUTI methodology, by providing reliable estimates and well-defined levels of statistical uncertainty for assessing stocks and flows of land use at national level, can be further implemented to frame other key questions for sustainable development policies, like the set up of environmental-economic accounting systems.

The recent Durban Climate Conference can be considered a step forward in the agroforestry sector within the international climate regulatory regime. After four years of negotiations the long-awaited decision on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was agreed, including a new activity (wetland drainage and rewetting), defining the accounting rules for forest management (which was shifted from voluntary to mandatory), the accounting for harvested wood products and the treatment of emissions from natural disturbances. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation, sustainable management of forest, and the enhancement of forest carbon stock (REDD+) has moved ahead as well, with the agreement of two decisions as an intermediate step for the finalization of the REDD+ mechanism architecture. The first decision is about methodological aspects on guidance on system for providing information on how safeguards are addressed and respected and on modalities relating to forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels that are benchmarks for assessing country’s performance in implementing REDD+ activities. The second decision is about policy approaches and incentives on REDD+ activities, that is the controversial issue on the sources of financing for REDD+ mechanism. As source of finance for result-based actions, a wide variety of sources are recognized: public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including the Green Climate Fund, provided that they are new, additional and predictable. Both market and non-market approaches were also considered as possible tool for financing REDD+ action, to be developed by the Conference of Parties. Although a more ambitious outcome would have been desirable, the conference in Durban concluded with the finalization of key outcomes in the forestry sector providing important operational instruments to incentivize sustainable forest management at global level, representing a significant step forward in the full recognition of the fundamental role of forests in the carbon cycle.

The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) is in its conclusive phase and with it the chances for forest farms in having an active role in the carbon market too. All carbon credits coming from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry activities will be used free of charge by the Italian Government in order to meet the national emission reduction target established under the Kyoto Protocol. In particular, the emitting sectors excluded from the European Union Emission Trading Scheme will benefit from forest carbon credits to offset part of their emissions, while for forest owners there is not any recognition for the provided service. In order to avoid the replication of this situation in the post-2012, it is necessary that the institution and the forest stakeholders, create the conditions for forest farms to participate and obtain the benefits introduced with the establishment of the Emission Trading, within the framework of post-2012 agreement. This condition could be achieved through the institution of a national carbon market. In this perspective this paper examines the main critical issues that could affect the participation of forest farms in the market.

Powdery mildew of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major fungal disease caused by Blumeria graminis DC f. sp. tritici. A microsatellite linkage map was developed for the T. monococcum-derived powdery mildew resistant gene present in the North Carolina germplasm line NCBGT96A6 (NCA6). Genetic analysis of [F.sub.2]-derived lines from the cross NCA6 x 'Saluda' indicated a single gene controlled powdery mildew resistance. Four microsatellite markers linked to the NCA6 Pm gene mapped to chromosome 7AL. The most likely order was Xcfa2123-0.9 cM-Xbarc121-1.7 cM resistance gene/Xcfa2019-3.0 cM-Xgwm332. A detached-leaf test indicated the disease reaction response of the NCA6 Pm gene was different from the five known alleles at the Pm1 locus on 7AL. Deletion interval mapping showed a large physical to genetic distance ratio for these microsatellite marker loci. This may be due to suppressed recombination between the introgressed T. monococcum segment and the homologous region of the T. aestivum cultivar Saluda. Our results suggested that the NCA6 Pm gene is likely a novel source of resistance to powdery mildew but additional allelism studies are needed to establish the relationship between this locus and the other known Pm loci on 7AL.

The recent Durban Climate Conference can be considered a step forward in the agroforestry sector within the international climate regulatory regime. After four years of negotiations the long-awaited decision on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry for the se - cond commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was agreed, including a new activity (wetland drainage and rewetting), defining the accounting rules for forest management (which was shifted from voluntary to mandatory), the accounting for harvested wood products and the treatment of emissions from natural disturbances. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation, sustainable management of forest, and the enhancement of forest carbon stock (REDD+) has moved ahead as well, with the agreement of two decisions as an intermediate step for the finalization of the REDD+ mechanism architecture. The first decision is about methodological aspects on guidance on system for providing information on how safeguards are addressed and respected and on modalities relating to forest reference emission levels and forest reference levels that are benchmarks for assessing country's performance in implementing REDD+ activities. The second decision is about policy approaches and incentives on REDD+ activities, that is the controversial issue on the sources of financing for REDD+ mechanism. As source of finance for result-based actions, a wide variety of sources are recognized: public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including the Green Climate Fund, provided that they are new, additional and predictable. Both market and non-market approaches were also considered as possible tool for financing REDD+ action, to be developed by the Conference of Parties. Although a more ambitious outcome would have been desirable, the conference in Durban concluded with the finalization of key outcomes in the forestry sector providing important operational instruments to incentivize sustainable forest management at global level, representing a significant step forward in the full recognition of the fundamental role of forests in the carbon cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical issues and challenges in the post-2012 perspective for the possible participation of the forestry sector market for carbon credits. The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) is in its conclusive phase and with it the chances for forest farms in having an active role in the carbon market too. All carbon credits coming from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry activities will be used free of charge by the Italian Government in order to meet the national emission reduction target established under the Kyoto Protocol. In particular, the emitting sectors excluded from the European Union Emission Trading Scheme will benefit from forest carbon credits to offset part of their emissions, while for forest owners there is not any recognition for the provided service. In order to avoid the replication of this situation in the post-2012, it is necessa - ry that the institution and the forest stakeholders, create the conditions for forest farms to participate and obtain the benefits introduced with the establishment of the Emission Trading, within the framework of post- 2012 agreement. This condition could be achieved through the institution of a national carbon market. In this perspective this paper examines the main critical issues that could affect the participation of forest farms in the market. INSET: Effetto compensazione e trascinamento connesso con gli…. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]