The National Forest Inventory (NFI) is the main tool for assessing forest resources in a country. His main task is to carry out at national level the activities of collecting, managing and analyzing information on forest resources, to publish the results of the respective analyzes and to draw up studies/scenarios on the development of the forestry sector to be used, mainly, in the processes of forest policy development and inter-sectoral cooperation.

Also, IFN is the main provider of data for reporting indicators of sustainable forest management, according to the commitments assumed by our country within the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe ( MCPFE ). It also provides data essential to reporting for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change/Kyoto Protocol ( UNFCCC/KP ) and the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD ).

The activity of the IFN service established within the “Marin Drăcea” INCDS is particularly complex, from the collection of field data (about trees, groves, dead wood, forest soils, etc.) to digital photogrammetry, laboratory analyzes and the statistical processing of a volume huge amount of data.

Within the IFN, the statistical inventory of the entire forest vegetation on the territory of the country is carried out. Since the definitions of the categories of forest vegetation used in our country only partially correspond to the definitions used internationally, in IFN both forest vegetation classification systems are used.

A. According to the definitions used in our country, forest vegetation consists of the national forest stock and the forest vegetation outside the national forest fund (two categories).

1. The national forest stock.

According to the Forestry Code (Law no. 46 of 19.03.2008), all forests, lands intended for afforestation, those that serve the needs of culture, production or forestry administration, ponds, streambeds, other forestry and non-productive lands , contained in forestry facilities on January 1, 1990 or included in them later, under the terms of the law, constitute, regardless of the nature of the property right, the national forest stock.

The national forest stock includes:

a) forests;

b) lands undergoing regeneration and plantations established for forestry purposes;

c) lands intended for afforestation: degraded lands and unforested lands, established under the conditions of the law to be afforested;

d) lands that serve the needs of culture: nurseries, solariums, plantations and mother plant cultures;

e) lands that serve the needs of forestry production: wicker crops, Christmas trees, ornamental and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs;

f) the lands that serve the needs of forestry administration: lands intended for ensuring game food and fodder production, lands given for temporary use by forestry personnel;

g) the lands occupied by constructions and their related yards: administrative headquarters, cabins, pheasants, trout farms, animal breeders of hunting interest, roads and forest transport routes, industrial spaces, other technical equipment specific to the forestry sector;

h) ponds, streambeds, as well as non-productive lands included in forest management planning;

i) shelter-belt;

j) junipers;

k) wooded pastures with consistency greater than or equal to 0.4, calculated only for the area actually occupied by forest vegetation.

All lands included in the national forest stock are lands for forestry purposes.

Lands with an area of at least 0.25 ha, covered with trees, are considered forests and are included in the national forest stock; the trees must reach a minimum height of 5m at maturity under normal vegetation conditions.

The term forest includes:

a) the forests included in the forest management planning on January 1, 1990, as well as those included later in them, under the conditions of the law;

b) shelter-belt;

c) junipers;

d) wooded pastures with consistency greater than or equal to 0.4, calculated only for the area actually occupied by forest vegetation.

2. Forest vegetation outside the national forest stock.

It consists of the following categories:

a) plantations with forest species on agricultural land;

b) forest vegetation on pastures with consistency lower than 0.4;

c) wooded meadows;

d) plantations with forest species and trees in the protection zones of hydrotechnical works and land improvements;

e) trees located along watercourses and canals;

f) urban green areas, other than those defined as forests;

g) dendrological parks and arboretums, other than those contained in forests;

h) alignments of trees located along transport and communication routes.

B. According to the definitions used internationally, forest vegetation consists of forest and other wooded land (two categories). Trees outside the forest represent a separate category.

1. Forest.

Lands with forest vegetation with a coverage index (consistency) greater than 10% and an area greater than 0.5 ha. The trees must reach a minimum height of 5m at maturity under normal vegetation conditions (exception: junipers and cypresses, wooded or young lands, exploited, burned or wind-downed areas, etc.), and the width of the forest vegetation to be at least 20m. It includes: nurseries and forest plantations, forest roads, small bare areas in the forest, shelter-belt with an area of more than 0.5ha and a width of more than 20m. It does not include land used mainly for agricultural purposes.

2. Other lands with forest vegetation.

Lands with forest vegetation having an area greater than 0.5ha, a width greater than 20m and a cover index (consistency) of either 5-10% for trees capable of reaching a minimum height of 5m at maturity under normal vegetation conditions, or over 10% for trees that cannot reach 5m in height at maturity (dwarf trees) and shrubs. It does not include land used mainly for agricultural purposes.

3. Trees outside the forest.

The lands with trees that do not meet the conditions to be included in the categories of forest or other lands with forest vegetation. Includes: trees on lands that correspond to the definitions of forest and other lands with forest vegetation, but with an area of less than 0.5ha or a width of less than 20m, fallen trees on hay and permanent pastures, trees in parks and gardens, around buildings, from alignments along streets, roads, railways, rivers, watercourses and canals, shelter-belt less than 20m wide or less than 0.5ha in area.