EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Sectoral and regional statistics
Unit E3: Environmental and forestry statistics /
25October 2011
Doc. FO/2011WG/6.1Only available in EN
Forestry Statistics
Working Group
Conceptual issues of the terms applied to the wood chain
16 – 17 November 2011
JeanMonnetBuilding, Room M1
Kirchberg, Luxembourg
Starting 16 November at 10:00
Ending 17 November at 16:00
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Cover note to the delegates of the Working Group on Forestry Statistics of 16-17 November 2011
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Wood is grown in forests then harvested to reach the processing industry and then the end use consumers – this flow is frequently called as wood chain. This short document coverssome of the problems with the main terms used to monitor the wood chain in both the Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire (JFSQ) and the Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounts for Forestry (IEEAF). Theseterms should beharmonized in line with the international agreements in order to increase the interoperability and therefore the usefulness of the results of the two data collection exercises.
The delegates of the Working Group on Forestry Statistics of 16-17 November 2011 are requested to discuss the proposal and advise Eurostat on its feasibility, especially in relation to
- The items of the chain considered to be already included into reporting (e.g. transport and storage losses or unutilized mortality),
- The regrouping of the remaining items in view of simplification.
The comments will help Eurostat to negotiate with its International partners about forest-related datacollections. The aim is to reduce the workload of the reporting countries. In order to do so Eurostat should collect all the necessary information once a year through its IEEAF and JFSQ.
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According to the international standards at least two parameters of forests are recorded: the area covered and the volume of wood. The latter is represented by a standing volume and an annual increment, both expressed in m3. The standing volume represents the volume of standing trees, living or dead, above-stump measured over bark to top (MCPFE, 2007). Includes tops of stems, large branches, dead trees (both: unutilized mortality and felled trees left in forests). The annual increment is the term used to describe the natural growth of the standing volume over a period (usually one year). There is a distinction between gross annual increment and net annual increment. In this concept the total natural growth is called gross annual increment while net annual increment is the average annual volume of gross increment (natural growth) less natural losses. Deadwood represents all non-living woody biomass not contained in the litter, either standing, lying on the ground, or in the soil, therefore includes natural losses as well. IEEAF Gross increment (Table 2a) equals with the gross annual increment.
The Forest Europe principle on sustainable forest management applied to economic values means among others the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in such a way, and at a rate, that maintain their […] productivity […] and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant […] economic […] functions. In a narrow sense it means that in average the total wood harvest should not exceed the natural growth of wood on a certain area in a certain period. If the gross annual increment is meant by the natural growth, then the total wood harvest is nothing less than the total drain.
In practice, most of the time the net annual increment is compared with the industrial and household wood utilisation, which differ more from the total drain than the net annual increment from the gross annual increment.
The total drain represents the gross felling and the unutilized mortality. Gross felling is the total volume of all stems separated from stumps, including felled stems left in forest (e.g. in connection with thinning). The total volume of completely or partially harvested stems gives the net felling. The Total removals to be reported to the IEEAF (Table 2a) along with tree tops and stumps left in forest forms the net felling. It is clear then from the wood chain that these tops and stumps along with the felled stems left in forest count for the Other changes of the same IEEAF table. According to IEEAF definitions Other changes cover all reductions in the volume of standing timber, which are not accounted for in removals. They include thinnings and cleanings left in the forest, and trees killed by natural causes that are not removed (unutilized mortality?). Other changes may also include a residual item, reflecting inconsistencies among the other data in the asset account.The Total removals (wood on the roadside) still differs from the industrial and household wood utilisation by the transport and storage losses. The Industrial and household wood utilisation is called Timber removed by logging in the IEEAF (table 3c) and Roundwood removals in the JFSQ (Table JQ1). Recently JFSQ asks for Roundwood removals over and under bark. A schematic chart presents the whole wood chain below.
As it can be seen, different terms with differing content are requested in different questionnaires. This reduces the comparability and interoperability of the different data on one hand and imposes higher workload on the reporters' side on the other hand. At this stage, before presenting any proposal for changes,correspondents are requested to comment on the above presented wood chain and clarify any misunderstandings.
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Comparing what is presented above withthe JFSQ, Eurostat noticed that the JFSQ does not consider the transport and storage losses and assumesRoundwood removals to equal the total removals (wood on the roadside). In order to clarify this issue,correspondents are requested to report whether they include transport and storage losses into the JFSQ Roundwood removals. If not Eurostat propose they should do so. This involves a slight, but important change to the chart (see next page) and clears up one imparity. Correspondents are asked to report if the inclusion of transport losses into the value of timber removed by logging in the IEEAF (table 3c) makes sense.
Further on,correspondents are also requested to comment whether Unutilized mortality is included under Other changes by the IEEAFand if so, whether the JFSQ could also address this part of the total drain.
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In line with this, the proposed changes for the wood chain are the following:
In order to further harmonise the terms used in different questionnaires correspondents are requested to comment on:
- Giving a common name to the Industrial and household wood utilisation, JFSQ Roundwood removals and IEEAF Timber removed by logging
- Highlighting that in IEEAF Table 2a Other changes includes tops and stumps as well as felled stems left in forests
- Deciding whether to mention that on top of that deadwood consists of unutilised mortality as well
- Agreeing on understanding gross felling whenever there is a reference to felling
- Agreeing on understanding net annual increment whenever there is a reference to increment
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