SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION

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In recent decades, increasing anthropogenic pressure on forest ecosystems—driven in part by the rising use of biomass for bioenergy, technical applications, and construction—has often led to the degradation of natural and semi-natural systems, especially in tropical regions. These trends are frequently associated with unsustainable and/or illegal exploitation of forest resources. The harvesting, processing, and transportation of wood and wood-based products have significant environmental, economic, and social impacts.

Over the last twenty years, political decision-makers, private companies, civil society organizations, and individual citizens have increasingly focused on the sustainable use of forest biomass. This has led to concrete actions and the implementation of effective tools aimed at preventing and mitigating such impacts. Forest certification has emerged as a key instrument to counteract the negative effects and threats to national and global forest resources by promoting practices based on careful planning and monitoring of wood biomass harvesting and management activities.

As of 31 December 2023, the forest area certified in Italy under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC™) scheme amounted to 984,107 hectares (a 6% increase compared to 2022), while the area certified under the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) scheme totalled 85,214 hectares (an increase of 4% over the previous year).

CONTRIBUTION OF NATIONAL FORESTS TO THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE

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The indicator refers to carbon stock, i.e., the amount of carbon stored in Italy across the different forest carbon pools, and to the variation in carbon stock (carbon sink), which accounts for both the carbon sequestered and the emissions released due to wildfires, harvesting, and natural mortality within national forest ecosystems.

Carbon stock and carbon sink are effective indicators for assessing the condition of a country’s forest resources, as they are influenced by forest productivity and, negatively, by both natural and anthropogenic disturbances (such as fires, logging, pests and pathogens, natural mortality, etc.).

Carbon stocks in Italian forests are increasing, indicating a net positive balance between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals (carbon sink). This trend is partially driven by conservation and forest protection policies and, on the other hand, by a decrease in harvested timber volumes due to complex economic and social factors.

Emissions from forest fires remain a significant concern. The trend of the national carbon sink over the period 1990–2022 has been heavily affected by a reduction in GHG removals associated with areas burned annually. The impact of biomass loss from large-scale wildfires in 1990, 1993, 2007, and 2017 is particularly evident in the carbon sink trend.

This highlights the critical role of wildfires in shaping the contribution of national forests to the global carbon cycle.