AGRI-FORESTER Guidelines for sustainable management, enhancement of ecosystem services and carbon sequestration in the Emilia-Romagna forest system

This action provides for the organization, activation and maintenance of the Operating Group (OG).
I.TER will assume the role of coordinator of the activity of operation and management of the OG,
planning and implementing all the technical initiatives necessary for the realization and achievement
of the results envisaged by the Plan. Having qualified technical, administrative and secretarial staff
with many years of experience in the technical-organizational coordination of research,
experimentation and dissemination projects, I.TER will handle the secretarial and administrative
management of the project as a reference point.
The coordination activity will develop with at least 2 meetings a year.
For the entire duration of the Plan, the Project Manager will carry out functional activities to ensure the
correct application of the contents of the Plan itself, and in particular: monitoring the progress of the
work; the evaluation of the results in progress; analysis of the deviations, comparing the intermediate
results achieved with those expected; the definition of corrective actions.
At the end of the Plan and at the end of each year, the Project Manager, together with all the partners
involved, will complete the analysis of the intermediate and final results obtained, as well as the
analysis of their compliance with the provisions of the Plan. As part of the coordination of activities
I.TER expects to keep in close contact with all partners in order to promptly learn about any critical
issues and difficulties and start consultations with the OG in time to implement containment actions
and define solutions.

ACTION 1: MONITORING OF THE CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE SOIL IN
REPRESENTATIVE SITES I.TER and UNIBO-DISTAL foresee the study of carbon sequestration
and types of organic substance in typical situations both for forest type (age, management, species
present etc.) and for pedological environment.
In the previous study action, for each partner company, 9 monitoring sites were identified in which
I.TER will carry out: the study of the soil; the georeferencing of the studied sites; a photo collection of
the survey station environment; monitoring of organic carbon in the soil by taking compound samples
at two different depths (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm); the taking of samples at 10-20 cm using a special
sampler for assessing humidity and apparent density. UNIBO-DISTAL will identify for each partner
company 3 sites selected from the previous 9 in which it will perform: characterization of the different
organic carbon pools; evaluation of the biological fertility index; definition of microbial populations
(bacteria and fungi); CO2 emission assessment. I.TER and UNIBO-DISTAL will prepare a report of
the various results obtained by processing the carbon stock in the soil in connection with the types of
soil and with silvicultural management (Batjes-1996 equation). The apparent volumetric mass values
determined on the basis of the weight of the samples collected in the field will also be compared with
the data of pedofunctions available in the region.

ACTION 3: IDENTIFY AND SHARE "GUIDELINES FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT,
ENHANCEMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN THE
EMILIA-ROMAGNA FOREST SYSTEM"
The Operational Plan sets out several results that all converge on the main objective that "links" the
participants to the OG, or define the "Guidelines for sustainable management, the enhancement of
ecosystem services and carbon sequestration in the Emilia-Romagna forest system " and to enhance
the role of agro-forestry companies in defense, protecting and safeguarding the territory.
The goodness of the final result will be determined by the ability to work collegially, testing and
verifying the data collected in the field in the territories belonging to the associated forestry companies
to share and then define the best forest management techniques.
Special excursions will be organized, with the participation of OG partners, other forest companies,
technicians and regional officials to discuss and share the guidelines. The places of visit will be the
woods of the associated companies and possibly real cases of optimal management or representative
cases.

TRAINING ACTION The cooperation modality also takes place with the Training and Consultancy of
forest technical experts, pathologists, foresters, forest security experts. The OG plans to activate both
training courses by DINAMICA and specific consultancies by I.TER. The training proposals inserted
by DINAMICA are aimed at providing participants with preparatory training hours to understand,
evaluate and receive information on sustainable forest management that implements and enhances the
ecosystem services of company forests with particular reference to carbon sequestration. Training and
comparison of forest population types and the main silvicultural treatments are the basis of the courses,
starting both frontal lessons and field observations. Moreover, speaking of sustainable management
and therefore also of silvicultural practices and interventions, part of the training will be dedicated to
work in the forest in safety.
The consultancy proposals entered by I.TER are aimed at providing the advice of an expert Forest
Doctor for the assessment of the vegetative production status and the potential of the ecosystem
services of the applicant farms. The consulting activities are aimed at agro-forestry companies
interested in knowing the main characteristics of the forest stands present in the company, the potential
ecosystem services with particular reference to the carbon sequestration that the company forests can
provide and the relative cultivation indications necessary for a management sustainable of the woods.