Methods to record agroforestry areas and greenhouse gas emissions in the EU (DigitAF Delivable 1.3)

This report focuses on methods which can be used to estimate the area and GHG emissions of agroforestry in Europe. Multiple pressures on European Forests make it more important than ever to recognise the importance of Trees outside Forests (ToF), including agroforestry systems and woody landscape features, These should be managed not just for environmental services and climate-change mitigation, but for the economic production of timber and wood products. This report first defines what EU Member States mean by "agroforestry" and "woody landscape features", then it examines eight approaches to quantification of this resource, often used in combination: 1) LUCAS data (Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey), 2) NFI - National Forest Inventories, 3) CAP Integrated Administration and Control - Geospatial datasets - LPIS/GSAA, 4) CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) Land Cover Data, 5) EU Forest Observatory Global Forest Map, 6) Copernicus Tree Cover Density datasets, 7) UNFCCC National Inventory Reports from EU Member States, 8) Orthophotos and LiDAR to locate individual trees. The final sections in the report consider upcoming legislation, including a) the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the requirement identified in the DGAGRI "Vision for Agriculture and Food" to establish an on-farm "Sustainability Compass" to hold farm-level information on environmental, social and financial sustainability, b) the upcoming requirements of voluntary carbon farming certification with details held in a geospatial registry, and c) options for the EU Emission Trading Scheme to be extended to include agriculture and forestry (i.e. "ETS-3") - which will require comprehensive mapping of agricultural, forest and agroforestry parcels.