78440 - Forest planning

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, the student will have acquired a basic understanding of forest planning, at the enterprise and landscape scale, and will know the theoretical basis and practical tools for (i) the assessment of land suitability for key forest services (production, protection, aesthetic, environmental) and (ii) the development of the Forest Management Plan. At the end of the course, the student is able to use the GIS tools required for land evaluation and forest planning; can simulate the drafting of a Forest Management Plan through the application of the Informatic System for Forest Planning.

Course contents

Background knowledge. The student must have an adequate background knowledge in statistics and basic knowledge and practical skills in geomatics (GIS, principles of remote sensing); if not already available, such a background can be acquired from the optional course 57929 (Laboratorio di geomatica).

Unit 1: Introduction (4 hours)

1.1 Valutazione e pianificazione del territorio forestale: finalità e sviluppo storico

1.2 La pianificazione forestale nella normativa nazionale e regionale

Unit 2: Land Pianificazione ecologica del territorio agro-forestale (14 hours)

2.1 Analisi del territorio agro-forestale: applicazioni GIS (incrocio di tematismi)

2.2 Il processo decisionale nella pianificazione territoriale a obiettivi semplici

2.3 Caso di studio: analisi spazializzata dei costi delle utilizzazioni forestali

2.4 Il processo decisionale nella pianificazione territoriale a obiettivi multipli

2.5 Caso di studio: zonazione delle comprese forestali a diversa attitudine

Unità 3: Pianificazione aziendale: il Piano di assestamento (26 ore)

3.1 Assestamento forestale: obiettivi e generalità

3.2 L’assestamento forestale in Emilia-Romagna e in Italia: normativa e situazione

3.3 Funzione produttiva: richiami di auxologia; il bosco normale e i metodi di normalizzazione

3.4 Funzione paesistica: principi di pianificazione estetico-ricreativa

3.5 Funzione protettiva e ambientale

3.6 Altre funzioni del bosco

3.7 Redazione dei piani aziendali: il Sistema Informativo per l’Assestamento Forestale

3.8 Caso di studio: rilievo in bosco dei dati

3.9 Caso di studio: applicazione del Sistema Informativo per l’Assestamento Forestale

Unità 4: Pianificazione a scala territoriale (6 ore)

4.1 Pianificazione forestale nei Parchi

4.2 Pianificazione forestale nelle aree Natura 2000

4.3 Valutazione di incidenza nelle aree Natura 2000

4.4 Piani forestali territoriali di indirizzo

Unità 5: Pianificazione a scala regionale (8 ore)

5.1 Il Piano Forestale Regionale

5.2 Le foreste nel Programma di Sviluppo Rurale 2014-2020

5.3 Caso di studio: simulazione di domanda PSR

Unità 6: Certificazione forestale (2 ore)

6.1 Certificazione forestale

6.2 EU Timber Regulation e FLEGT Regulation: la Due diligence

Readings/Bibliography

Considering the wide range of topics addressed, the course can be studied on slides and material provided by the lecturer on AMS Campus. For further reading:

Malczewski, J. (1999) GIS and Multicriteria Decision Analysis. pp 408. J. Wiley, London

Corona P., Barbati A., Ferrari B., Portoghesi L. (2011) Pianificazione ecologica dei sistemi forestali. Ed. Compagnia delle Foreste, Arezzo

La Marca O., La Marca A. (2012) Appunti di Progettazione Forestale. Patron Editore, Bologna

Teaching methods

The course is largely based on lectures, integrated by a large number of practicals under the direct guide of the lecturer. More specifically:

- Unit 1 (Design of forest inventories): (i) planning of forest measurements, in computer room; (ii) field practicals (1/2 day), execution of forest sampling (sampling plots; line measurements for the assessment of coarse woody debris); (iii) statistical analysis of results in computer room;

- Unit 2 (Forest inventories): practicals in computer room, analysis of aerial photographs for the classification of forested areas (INFC methodology);

- Unit 3 (Advances in remote sensing): practicals in computer room, application of QGIS software to Landsat TM imagery for (i) atmospheric corrections and (ii) terrain corrections;

- Unit 4 (Remote sensing applications for forestry and the environment): practicals in computer room, application of GRASS software to Landsat TM imagery for (i) supervised classification, (ii) un-supervised classification, (iii) computation of spectral indexes, (iv) spatialization by k-NN method;

- Unit 5 (Elements of photogrammetry): practicals in computer room, application of QGIS software on aerial photographs.

Lectures will be integrated with meetings with professionals about the topics covered by the course.

Assessment methods

The knowledge and proficiency in the current course are assessed through a final oral exam. The assessment is based on the understanding demonstrated by the individual student, on the discussion of practicals and and on the quality of his presentation. The exam lasts approximatively 45 minutes.

Teaching tools

Practicals in computer room, with PCs available for each student and freeware software (QGIS, GRASS, SIAF). Instrumentation for forest mensuration during the field practicals. Slides for all lectures are made available beforehand to the students through the AMS Campus portal.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Magnani