Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

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Conservation and Sustainable Use (sustainable forest management) Pinus halepensis forests of Greece: a study case Pinus halepensis Mill. and Pinus brutia Ten. are two major forest species widely distributed around the Mediterranean, from sea level to relatively high altitudes and they alone account for about 25% of the forested area of the Mediterranean Basin. They are both highly flammable seeding species, growing on virtually all kind of substrates, landforms and topography. Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) and Pinus brutia (East Mediterranean pine) forests cover approximately 40% of the coniferous forests and approximately 9% of the total forested area in Greece. They develop at areas of low altitude at relatively dry Mediterranean conditions. Mediterranean forests of Greece host almost 10% of the plants, which are endemic in the fire-prone environments of the country. Almost 1/5 of the fire events which occurred in Greece during the last 30 years have burst over Aleppo pine forests consuming ~ 400000 ha of them. Pinus halepensis ecosystems are resilient to fire provided that fire interval follows the ‘norm’. This time window must not in any case be less than a minimum time required by Aleppo pine to accomplish its biological cycle, that is to establish new seedlings and reach reproductive maturity. This period is not less than ~25 years. Traditional use of Aleppo pine forests was primarily related to resin collection and secondarily to wood collection and grazing. During the last 30 years Aleppo pine forests attract other human activities, e.g. recreation and housing constructions. This shift is clearly reflected to the number of fire events starting at the wildland - urban interface. Pinus halepensis natural forests of Mountain Penteli in Attica is a typical example of such landscape changes and fire interactions, having experienced very frequent deliberate fires at quite short time intervals. Plant community structure and diversity are greatly affected. The short fire interval has stronger impact on the occurrence of the woody plant species than on the herbaceous. Pinus seedlings are no longer appearing and ruderal taxa become dominant. Therophytes become more abundant both in species richness and in cover. The relative representation of key-functional groups changes significantly. Evidence that at least 3 plant endemic taxa Campanula drabifolia, Erysimum graecum, both biennial hemicryptophytes and Onobrychis ebenoides, a perennial pubescent chamaephyte protected by the Presidential decree 67/1981, did not manage to survive. Conclusions There has been an increasing interest in many terrestrial biomes on issues relating biological diversity and ecosystem function. Mediterranean ecosystems of the World have been proposed as critical in this scientific effort in the sense that they provide important models for searching new paradigms relating biodiversity with ecosystem stability and resilience. Given the fact that these ecosystems are under the threat of severe and progressing landscape changes, the need of full understanding the processes underlying these links is essential and becomes crucial under the foreseen climate change scenario. References Arianoutsou, M. (1998). Aspects of Demography in post-fire Mediterranean plant communities of Greece. In: Landscape degradation in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems, edited by P.W. Rundel, G. Montenegro & F. Jaksic. Ecological Studies 136. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/ Heidelberg. pp. 273-295. Arianoutsou, M. (2001). Landscape changes in Mediterranean ecosystems of Greece: implications for fire and biodiversity issues: Journal of Mediterranean Ecology, in press. 77
Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity 24 AUSTRALIA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE Stuart M. Davey* 1 , James R.L. Hoare 1 , Karl E. Rumba 1 , Michael W. Ryan 2 , Michael Stephens 2 1 Bureau of Rural Sciences, P.O Box E11 Kingston ACT 2604 2 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia GPO Box 858 Canberra ACT 2601 E-mail: Stuart.Davey@brs.gov.au Keywords: sustainable mangement, reserve criteria, modelling technology, forestry standard Australia is considered as one of the worlds 17 ‘megadiverse’ countries with a high level of endemism that makes it significant on the world stage. Forest ecosystems found in Australia are unique and are hence considered a world asset in terms of biodiversity. This is recognised by the Commonwealth of Australia and a range of activities have been put in place to help meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity with respect to forests. The National Forest Policy Statement, comprehensive, adequate and representative forest reserve system criteria, Regional Forest Agreements, forest modelling technology, Montreal Process-based regional criteria and indicators and the Australian Forestry Standard are recognised as key elements in the forestry sector for promoting the conservation of biological diversity and adopting ecological sustainable forest management practice. In the 2001 Review of the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity the objective of achieving conservation of biological diversity through the adoption of ecologically sustainable forest management practices was considered to be achieved. The National Forest Policy Statement (1992) 4 sets out the principles, vision and goals for achieving ecologically sustainable development and use of Australia’s forests. It seeks to achieve a balanced return to the community from all forest uses within a regionally based planning framework that integrates environmental, commercial, social and heritage objectives so that, as far as possible, provision is made for all forest values. The Statement is a whole of government approach to forest issues. Its goals, objectives and initiatives form the foundations of ecologically sustainable forest management practice across Australia. Commitments made through policies outlined within the Statement provide the Australian commitment to help meet the country’s obligations under the Convention. A comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system is a key element in the Australian approach to ecologically sustainable forest management practice. Australia has developed and agreed a set of criteria, standards and principles that underpin such a reserve system. The reserve system protects a range of biodiversity conservation values as well as old-growth forests and wilderness areas. Importantly, the reserve system had to achieve conservation goals using formal, informal and off-reserve management strategies aimed at ecologically sustainable and complementary management of forests on public and private lands. The criteria for establishing the reserve system is world’s best practice with the goal of reserving 15% or more of each forest type determined to have occurred before 1750 5 . This exceeds the criteria used by IUCN. Regional Forest Agreements within Australia are the basis and foundation for the States of Australia to implement the policy commitments of the National Forest Policy Statement and hence meet the UNCED Conventions and non-legally binding instruments. These twenty-year Agreements are regional strategic forest plans, which integrate the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity as envisaged under Article 6b of the Convention. Agreements cover much of the commercial forests of Australia and are based on conservation management and sustainable use principles taking on board community and forest industries needs, issues and values. 4 NFPS (1992) National Forest Policy Statement: A new focus for Australia’s forests, 2nd edition. Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. 5 The 1750-baseline was used in recognition of the changes in the forest estate following European settlement in Australia in 1788. The IUCN adoption of the 1750-baseline relates to the forest estate as it existed prior to the Industrial Revolution. 78
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