The Expert Panel on Nitrogen Budgets (EPNB)

Berlin, September 28, 2012

Wilfried Winiwarter, Albert Bleeker (co-chairs)

Take-home messages

• “Guidance Document on National Nitrogen Budgets” has been adopted by WGSR and will be forwarded to EB-31 as an official document (to demonstrate and to report voluntarily under revised Gothenburg protocol).

• Your help needed: Guidance document defines nitrogen pools (and sub-pools) to be derived, according to specific guidance still to be written.

• Your help needed: Extending guidance also to farm-level budgets.

Nitrogen budgets

• “Reactive Nitrogen”, Nr, is being conserved and transferred through different environmental pools (“N cascade”).

• Considerable information is available from different sources on nitrogen concentrations in pools and nitrogen flows.

• Mass conservation considerations allow validation of system understanding in models.

Examples

• Germany

• Switzerland

• UK, France, Netherlands, Austria, …

• European Union

Leip et al., 2011

Collaboration

• OECD “key environmental indicator”

• EUROSTAT – Gross Nutrient Balances– Fertilizer Statistics & Agro Environmental Indicators

• Memorandum of understanding between UN-ECE and Eurostat has been drafted

Pools

Work plan 2012/13

• Complete core guidance document

• Continue cooperation with international bodies, explore further potentials

• Further support national N budget activities and harmonization of data collection

• Develop farm level budgets as a second main activity to EPNB

Next EPNB meeting ???