FMOS
Launched in 1987 as a complex forest protection program and broadened to include other duties, the Forest Protection Measuring and Observation System (FMOS, Hungarian acronym: EMMRE) was integrated into the Act LIV of 1996 on Forests and the Protection of Silviculture and the related Decree 29/1997 (IV.30.) by the Ministry of Agriculture, which set forth the rules of implementation. The program, which covers the forestry sector as a whole, identified the duties of the Forest Management Planning Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing (later renamed as State Forest Service and then as Central Agriculture Office Centre, Forest Directorate, National Food Chain Safety Office Forest Directorate, currently the National Land Central Forestry Department) as follows:
- Elaborate the domestic methodology and system of surveying forest damage operated along the principles of a large-scale national forest inventory with special focus on the impact of air pollution on forests.
- Assess forest health status at compartment level annually covering 1/10th of the total forest land in Hungary.
- Process and store electronically the data of the two previous assessments.
- Represent Hungary in the relevant international cooperation program. Coordinate program related activities on national level.
- Establish and operate a target oriented monitoring system in case of natural disasters or epidemics affecting relatively large areas.
The antecedent in Hungary of the intensive monitoring network operated by the Forest Research Institute (FRI) included a 16x16 km forest protection network based on a 4x4 km monitoring grid set up by the State Forest Service in 1987. The Ecology Department of the FRI started to select and establish the methods of assessment in 1989.
In the mid-nineties, it seemed practical to revamp (the second level of) intensive monitoring and to select new monitoring plots that fulfilled or could be transferred to meet the higher requirements set by the program and areas with historical data also available.
The Ecology Department of the FRI selected the majority of the monitoring sites from existing operational ecological research sites. These sites had been subjected to water- and organic material cycles tests earlier, which served as a valuable background for intensive monitoring, which involved quite a few similarities.
Additional, long term monitoring systems were also launched during the operation of FMOS, including the “Assessment of Game Damage in Forests” and the establishment of the “National Forest Fire Database”.
Moreover, the damage caused by chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria) and gipsy moth was assessed in detail from among the larger scale disturbances of nature.
The system has been improved and refined continuously over the years based on experiences in Hungary and on international cooperation
At present, two institutions, the Forest Research Institute of the National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre and the NLC Forestry Department are responsible for the duties under the FMOS. The components are summarised in the figure below, while the detailed descriptions are posted on the websites of the two operating institutions.
