Project Objectives

The general objective of the proposal is to define the guidelines of good silvicultural practices for the
restoration of peri-urban degraded coniferous forests in Italy and Greece with native broadleaved
species, improving the ecological stability and climate change mitigation potential of these
ecosystems. The project aims at testing and verifying in the field the effectiveness of management
options for the conversion of degraded coniferous forests in meeting climate change mitigation
objectives. The project will provide data on vegetation structure, biomass increment, C accumulation in
all relevant pools of vegetation and soil, and CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, thus giving a
complete picture of mitigation potential of management practices.
In detail, specific objectives are:
1. To enhance the net primary production of the site, thus increasing the sequestration capacity of
C into above- and belowground living biomass.
2. To increase C accumulation in soil, thus increasing sequestration capacity in the long term,
enlarging the pool of stable soil organic matter and its chemical-physical stability.
3. To avoid C losses from dead-wood degradation and to contain the global warming potential of
greenhouse emissions derived from organic material decomposition;
4. To use the resulted biomass from conversion in co-generators, reducing electricity production
from fossil fuels.
5. To provide a list of “good practices” on forest management options for the conversion of
degraded coniferous forests suited for conserving and enhancing carbon stocks, increase carbon
sequestration, and contain greenhouse gas emissions.
6. To restore the ecological stability and enhance resistance and resilience of the target
ecosystems. A more resistant and resilient ecosystem has a higher capacity to act as a C sink in the
long term, maintaining other ecosystem services including biodiversity, soil protection and recreation.
7. To identify a strategy for conflict resolution among environmental, conservative and silvicultural
point of views in peri-urban forests.
8. To reduce fire risk, through deadwood removal.
9. To promote recreational and touristic activities
10. To enter the C credit market and to use the sold and received credits to produce benefits at local
and regional level.