Development of Afforestation Programs and their Implementation 2

Development of Afforestation Programs and their Implementation 2) Decision making process Project financed by the European Union

Contents 1. Strategic considerations 2. Decision making process 3. Technical aspects Project financed by the European Union

Objective of presentation • Starting point for further technical discussion • Support to the joint development of site specific concepts • Development of decision making flow chart

To implement afforestation measures on Forest Management Unit level a sequence of has to be followed as shown in the flow chart: • The decision-making flowchart first of all aims at guarantee successful establishment of forests.

Source: WWF Caucasus Programme Office , 2011

• Strategic considerations on Forest Management Unit level • • • Site assessment: Ecological aspects Climate Annual Precipitation during vegetation period Mean annual temperature Temperature during vegetation period Temperature amplitude Soil Natural water supply Trophic level Altitude and Topography

• Mapppppppp Map of site types

Site assessment: Socio-economic aspects • Ownership • Land tenure (e. g. traditional land use rights) • Income generation (e. g. temporary employment, traditional use species) Project financed by the European Union

Next step will be the delineation of the perimeter of the area, where the forest should be established. Exact establishment of area (ha ). Basis for further calculation. Project financed by the European Union

The situation on the ground should be characterized using the following categories 1) No forest cover 2) Degraded or regrowth forest without natural regeneration potential 3) Degraded or regrowth forest with natural regeneration potential This categorisation will offer options for further silvicultural decisions.

Source WWF Cau. PO 2011

Definition of Silvicultural treatment Methode Natural regeneration • Cheap and efficient • Need for mature trees in the neighbourhood Spot seeding • Method to supplement existing natural regeneration Total area seeding • Only for trees that produce large amounts of seeds Spot planting • Supplementing existing natural regeneration • Enrichment planting Total area planting • Different approaches • Strip-wise • Core area approach

Definition of potential natural forest composition Information about species that are well adopted to the given ecological situation. Project financed by the European Union

Selection of suitable species Based on the ecological parameters the selection of suitable species will be the first step to successful afforestation. Project financed by the European Union

Map: Targeted tree Species Blue: spruce Yellow: oak Brown: beech

Selection of species and species composition Ø Climate change adds additional physical and biological stress to forest ecosystems. Ø Therefore it is necessary to increase resilience by enhancing the ecosystem’s natural ability to respond to stress and change. Thus selection of tree species should follow the natural species composition as far as possible. Ø Important characters are sun tolerance, shade tolerance and drought resilience to drought Project financed by the European Union

Having decided about the tree species that should be used for afforestation, which is the most important issue of the concept, technical aspects have to be decided upon. Project financed by the European Union

Prepared by Rolf Schulzke Rolf. Schulzke@web. de Project financed by the European Union