 |
 |
Harmonisation of European National Forest InventoriesNational Forest Inventories (NFIs) in Europe have different historic origins. They were established with the primary aim to cover the information needs at country level. Therefore NFI methods reflect the country-specific conditions in terms of forest types, topographies, climates and interests in forests. The cross-border comparability of their results is therefore not met from the outset. Numerous international programs and target groups from the environmental, wood processing, and energy sectors require such comparable information from NFIs as reliable basis in decision-making processes. Due to these information needs a harmonisation process was initiated at the beginning of the century. The harmonisation of European NFIs maintains the framework of existing NFI methods and achieves comparability through the development and application of harmonisation procedures for NFI target variables. |
The harmonisation process of European NFIs consequently allows to satisfy the various information needs at the international-, country- and sub-country levels. It provides the opportunity to respond to future developments as the demand for forest information is still diversifying.
The basic prerequiste for the harmonisation process is the common agreement on Reference Definitions.
