In 2016, D.A.M.T, the Hellenic Forest Service for northern Greece (Macedonia and Thrace Regions), with the support of BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg Reseach Center Landscape Development and Mining Landscapes experts and following common standard protocols of the SEEMLA project, established three plots, in the northeastern part of Greece, in Rodopi prefecture (main forest species for biomass production: Pinus Nigra, Pinus Brutia and Robinia Pseudacacia). Nearby productive ecosystems (including forests etc.) or successional sites will be used as references for estimating the potentials of MagL. Further existing plantations of energy crops on similar MagL, will be used to assess potential crop yields. These plots represent different types of marginal lands, they were specifically selected for SEEMLA purposes (reliable and sustainable exploitation of biomass) and are entirely different from other inventories, used for typical
forest operations in Greece. The main differences are:
- an intensively studied core area,
- Soil Quality Rating (SQR) method measurements,
- Soil Classification Maps - parameters estimation (land capability classes and landforms),
- tightly spaced plantations (1,5 m x 1,5 m),
- cropping systems,
- shorter rotations and
- the need for special forest management study.
The combination of these requirements with the soil conditions of the area has created significant issues on plots establishment and accurate recording of supply chain stages. Main expected SEEMLA impacts are:
• provide a substantial amount of EU energy needs from marginal/degraded land,
• avoidance of land use conflicts by strengthening the ability to use MagL for biomass production for energy,
• reduction of EU-wide greenhouse gas,
• mitigation of conflicts regarding sustainability and biodiversity for the utilization of MagL for biomass production,
• growth of plantations of bioenergy carriers from MagL at competitive costs,
• expansion of economic opportunities for farmers, foresters and rural regions in general through biomass production on MagL and related processing activities,
• investments in new technologies and the design of new policy measures.
One of the main issues that the forest sector is facing is to achieve a balance between the demand for biomass &wood production and the need to preserve the sustainability and biodiversity of forest ecosystems. The purposes of the new approaches are to ensure more efficient management of ecosystems and implement intensive forestry that will increase biomass production & timber yields. To achieve this, we need to determine the macroeconomic potential of the various options available, including the use of biotechnology and genetics. The success of the forests plantations capacity may be solved through forest certification, based on: a) Stabilization of the forests and soils structure. b) Hierarchy of biomass production in the forest’s management process. c) rganization and implementation of effective plantation on marginal lands. d) Maintenance or increase of forest productivity by introducing new items as and when they are required. It is important to evaluate of the influence of factors such as the quality of soils of plantation areas, the utilization of the genetic resources and the management of forest operations with the environmental economic criteria such as net present value of benefits (NPV) and the corresponding flow annuities (EACF).The existing evaluations studies showed that the quality of the plantation areas has the most influence and through validated quality seed production can generate an increase in the NPV up to 73%. The importance of seedlings quality in timber and bio-energy production on marginal lands based on the literature it is estimated according to the heredity of the characteristics of the wood structure (except shrinkage). This clearly indicate that seedlings with the appropriate morphological characteristics can significantly improve the growth performance and help to support the development of biomass plantations oriented in tailor-made timber and bio-energy production.