Division I General remarks

The measurements of increment changes in accordance with Article 6(a) shall be carried out on all plots in the dormancy period. The reference for the first inventory under Regulation (EC) 2152/2003 shall be dormancy period of the winter 2004/2005 and shall be repeated in a five year interval.

The following provisions are based on technical recommendations of Expert Panel on Forest growth of the UN/ECE International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). The measurement of the growth is divided into two parts:

• periodic measurements on tree parameters (mandatory all five years),

• tree ring analysis by means of increment cores and stem discs (optional).

The methodologies described here are inappropriate for maquis and similar vegetation types.

Member States are free to carry out, in addition to the periodic measurements on tree parameters, permanent continuous girth band measurements.