Brussels, 05/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Harmonised rules to account for greenhouse gas emissions and absorptions by forestry and agriculture, as proposed by the European Commission (EUROPE 10572) are a good thing, but we need to go further, says the NGO CEEweb for Biodiversity. Whilst welcoming the Commission's proposal, which it feels is vital to allow these two sectors to make their contribution to achieving the EU's climate commitments, CEEweb for Biodiversity calls for an additional proposal to lay down specific objectives for forestry and agricultural activities, and for these objectives to be included in a legislative framework for the environmental policy, based on an approach which takes account of the ecosystems. CEEweb is also calling for action plans to be adopted by the member states to increase their absorption of carbon and reduce their emissions in both sectors.
As regards agriculture, the NGO recommends that the member states: - diversify agricultural landscapes to ensure that cultivated land alternates with pastures and semi-natural habitats; - diversify their agricultural systems in terms both of land management and of species and varieties of crops and animals raised for breeding; - favour varieties which are adapted to local conditions, so as to reinforce the diversity of crops at a regional level and bearing in mind that local varieties have a relatively high genetic diversity - a key factor in agricultural resilience.
The resilience and adaptation capacity of forests against climate change largely depends on their natural dynamics as well as biological (diversity of micro-habitats, species and genetic variables within species) and structural diversity (age and distribution of trees). The NGO believes that sustainable forestry objectives should be included in the common agriculture policy and widely supported by the CAP.
For forestry, the NGO is of the opinion that the member states should avoid the emission of carbon stored by ancient forests by conserving their natural status; widely introduce the practice of non-intervention management in special forests (riparian and dry forests); support the sustainable management of other types of forest; put a special emphasis on a sufficient amount of dead wood in forest management plans; protect micro-habitats; protect forest soils; enhance the proportion of forested areas with non-use and sustainable use, while restricting intensive use to plantations.
To back up its aspirations and recommendations, CEEweb for Biodiversité points out notably that the quantity of carbon stored in the soils of Europe is 15 times higher than the annual quantity of greenhouse gas emitted by the EU, 2.5 times higher than the carbon stored in aviation biomass and seven times higher than the quantities of carbon stored in the oil and gas fields of Europe. The NGO also points out that in view of the serious problem of soil erosion in the EU, there is the risk that European soils could lose their carbon well status and become sources of carbon.
The proposed decision of the Commission presented on 12 March aims to transpose into European law the decision on the LULUCF (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) adopted by the international community in December of last year in Durban, at the UN climate conference on climate change (COP 17). (AN/transl.fl)