Określenie rzeczywistej powierzchni lasów w Polsce na podstawie dostępnych danych przestrzennych

Several studies discussed a disagreement concerning forest extent in Poland between land cadaster and status on the ground. The aim of the paper was to assess the actual forest extent in Poland based on an existing spatial datasets such as: Digital Forest Map (covering explicitly the State Forests), Topographic Database, Database of Parcel Identification System, High Resolution Layer (Copernicus Land Monitoring product based on classification of satellite data) and National Forest Data Bank. The geospatial data analyses were preceded by an accuracy assessment of the available datasets, which allowed to assign weights to each of the dataset. The result of this project was the actual forest extent map, which refers to the national definition of forest as defined in the Forest Act of 28 September 1991 (forest by definition is a homogeneous area of 0.1 hectares). This includes all forms of ownership forests and areas that are forested, but officially recorded as non−forest. Moreover, the map of the forest extent under the Kyoto Protocol, including areas that meet the criteria of actual forest extent map and additionally forest areas designed or used for housing, recreation, infrastructure, and other industrial and agricultural areas (e.g.: permanent crops – orchards) were determined. The results confirmed that the actual forest extent is higher by almost 800 thousand hectares then the official statistics provided by the Central Statistical Office of Poland. According to the official statistics forest in Poland covers 29.4% of the country, however this study revealed that 32% of the country, considering the national forest definition, and 33.5%, considering the forest definition under the Kyoto Protocol, is occupied by forest. It showed the need for the land cadaster update. Precise information on spatial distribution of forest extent is crucial for the national purposes i.e. reporting, implementation of the National Afforestation Program and also for the international commitments under the climate convention to determine the accurate forest carbon content and carbon dioxide sequestration.