NFI Progress Updates

October 2008 - 

Tender for NFI Advisory Team Launched

December 2008 - 

NFI Advisory Team selected and contract awarded to GeoFIS Ltd of Germany

20th January 2009 - 

NFI Launch Meeting in Podgorica. 

• Ministry Press Release
  
• Workshop Report
• NFI Advisory Team Presentation

End April 2009 -

Inception Phase completed

Download Inception Phase Reports here:

• Task 1 - download report
  
• Task 2 - download report
• Task 3 - download report

June 2009 - Update

NFI Montenegro

Background

New Policy

The new forest policy of Montenegro, which was adopted by Government in April 2008 defines the National Forest Inventory as essential for long-term sectoral planning and should cover multiple resources including wildlife.   

The Policy also commits Montenegro to prepare for EU Integration, including implementation of Natura 2000. The complete forest area of Montenegro will be covered by the NFI including the private forest areas for which up to now absolutely no information is available.

Montenegro’s Forests

Out of the total area of the Republic of Montenegro (1 381 000 ha) some 743 609 ha or 54% are covered by forests and woodland. 

Out of that, about 212 000 ha are classified as high economic forests. 

Forests in State ownership amount to 67% whereas 33% belongs to the private sector. 

Forests are extremely important both for the preservation of ecological balance, for biodiversity and environment quality, but also for the economic development, especially in the northern, underdeveloped region. 

At the same time, forest ecosystems are exposed to multiple pressures, which threaten to lead to unsustainable use, primarily through uncontrolled, unplanned activities and excessive exploitation of natural resources.  There is no up-to-date information on a number of forest areas that were adversely affected by illegal logging in the period of weak management during the 1990s.

The current estimates of forest cover, by type and ownership as shown above will be updated after the NFI.

Role of FODEMO Project in the NFI

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) forms a major part of FODEMO Project's  Result 1 - which focuses on building the national legal and policy framework for forest management.  To date, a National Forest Policy has been drafted, and adopted by Government, and work has now begun on developing a new legal framework that interprets this policy into practise.   Also a part of Result 1, the National Forest Inventory, and associated studies of demand for forest products, will provide key data for the more detailed Forest Sector Master Plans, as well as the basis for municipal level forest sector development plans.  

FODEMO is commiting some 600,000 Euros to the National Forest Inventory.

General concept for NFI.

The National Forest Inventory is envisaged to measure the extent, quantity and quality of the forest resources and associated biodiversity therein. 

The NFI should enable the preparation of timely and accurate information on the sustainable supply of wood, non-wood products, goods and services that the forests can provide, and inform medium-to-long term planning. 

It will provide a range of important information about the status of Montenegro’s forests:

• Summary of the current status of Montenegro’s Forest Resources
• Standing volume / biomass and quality of forest resources (especially but not only timber).;
• Estimates of growth (increment) of forest resources (wood volume).
• Estimates of Allowable Cut of timber based on above information, and estimates of sustainable harvests of other species (wildlife and key NTFPs).
• Improved information about species distributions and populations (fauna and flora);
• Other important geological and environmental data.
  

It will be possible to summarise the above results by forest type, ownership type (state / private), and geopolitical regions.  Target levels of accuracy for each type of information must be defined as part of the NFI design.

How will the NFI Results be used?

The results of the NFI will be used in many ways:

• To inform long term planning of forest sector development;
• To prepare Municipal level Forest Development Plans;
• To guide the planning of industry development;
• To inform the preparation of spatial plans that take into account the need for agricultural, forestry and tourism development, and meet conservation and economic objectives;
• To identify and map potential threats to forests (fire, illegal logging, snow / storm damage, erosion, etc)
• As a baseline for monitoring future changes in forest cover, and forest land use;
• To guide the planning of long term Forest industry investment;
• As a baseline for future carbon sequestration projects;
• As a baseline for Biodiversity monitoring;
• To produce maps of forest / vegetation types, and soils.

The NFI is envisaged as a classical 3-step inventory based on remote sensing data (satellite images and aerial photographs) and terrestrial sampling plots.

The detailed concept for the NFI is to be designed and agreed during the NFI Inception Phase.

NFI in Context of longer-term initiatives

Montenegro’s National Forest Inventory is being launched as a ‘project within a project’.  

The NFI is envisaged as a ‘one-off’ activity, that provides a snapshot of the forest resource, and a baseline for future planning.  FODEMO has sufficient funds (approximately €600,000 total – covering costs for international Technical Advisers, equipment, imagery and terrestrial inventory) for designing and implementing the first NFI over the next 2 years, that provides a suitable coverage of Montenegro’s forests, after which, the responsibility for ongoing forest monitoring work must be handed over to relevant Montenegrin Institution(s). 

Such inventory work will then become an integral component of routine forest management planning activities.  In state forests, these already include the establishment of Permanent Sample Plots that should in the long term be re-measured and the results used as part of a dynamic inventory that allows more effective monitoring of forest activities, forest condition and growth.

The NFI should also be integrated into future proposals to develop private forest FMP and Municipality level plans (MLP).  For this reason, a clear strategy must be established from the beginning that ensures that full responsibility for the NFI is taken up by institutions that have both a mandate, and in the long term, are likely to have the human and financial resources to sustain the initiative in both state and private forests.   For this reason, capacity building of local institutions during the NFI is critical.

Download Full Terms of Reference for the National Forest Inventory