Download Factsheet European Forests Resources

FOREST EUROPE FACTS
European Forests Resources
FOREST EUROPE regularly analyses and presents information on forest conditions in the pan-European region. The
latest report, the “State of Europe’s Forests 2011” jointly
prepared with UNECE and FAO, emphasizes that sustainable forest management has led to measurable positive
effects on our environment and society.
Increasing Forest Area
Compared to some regions of deforestation, Europe’s forest
area and wood resources continue to grow. Forests cover
about 45 percent of the European land (1.02 billion
hectares). Europe has about 25 percent of the world’s
forests, out of which 80 percent is in the Russian Federation.
Over the last 20 years, the forest area has expanded in all
European regions and has gained 0,8 million hectares per
year.
Historical development in forest resources
In almost all the countries, the net annual increment is
higher than the annual fellings. In the European region,
approximately 40 percent of increment is utilized. In the
Russian Federation the felling rate has decreased from 41
percent in 1990 and stabilized around 20 percent since
2000. In Europe without the Russian Federation, the felling
rate increased from 58percent in 1990 to 62 percent in
2020.
Non-wood goods can also be an important source of local
income. The total reported value of marketed non-wood
products amounts to EUR 2.7 billion, and has almost tripled
since the 2007 assessment. More than one fifth of European
forests are managed primarily to protect water, soil and
infrastructure.
Biodiversity conservation
Forest-related goods and services
Protected forests are important to maintain and enhance
biodiversity, as well as to conserve landscape and provide
recreation opportunities. The area of protected forests in
Europe has increased by around half million hectares annually over the last 10 years thanks to policies to improve
biodiversity. In Europe (without the Russian Federation),
about 10 percent of forests are protected to conserve biodiversity and about 9 percent to protect landscape. Both areas
account for a total area of 39 million hectares.
In 2010, more than 878 million cubic metres of roundwood
were produced. The overall value of marketed roundwood
is still increasing and reached EUR 21.1 billion in 2010.
There is an increasing use of natural regeneration and
mixed tree species. In several countries, long-term monitoring of threatened forest species has reduced their decline.
Between 2005 and 2010, photosynthesis and tree biomass
growth in European countries annually removed about
870 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, about 10
percent of the greenhouse emissions in 2008 in these
countries.
FOREST EUROPE has developed common strategies for its 46 participating countries and the European Union to
protect and sustainably manage forests. It aims at maximising the contribution of Europe’s forests to the ecological,
social and economic well-being of the continent and the rest of world.
Forest health and vitality
Sulphur deposition has decreased over the last decade.
However, in many parts of Europe there is tendency to
acidification and eutrophication of soil. Crown defoliations
is a key factor which indicates the health condition of a tree.
Roughly 20 percent of all tress which assessed in 2009
showed a mean defoliation of 25 percent or more and were
thus classified as damaged or dead. Insects and diseases are
the damaging agents the most frequently observed in
European forests. One percent of the European forest area is
affected by one or more damaging agents (6 percent for
Europe without the Russian Federation). Damage due to
storms, wind and snow are mainly observed in
Central-West, central-East, North and South-West Europe,
while damage due to forest fires has mainly been reported
for the Russian Federation, South-West and South East
Europe.
FOREST EUROPE Signatory Countries
More information and detailed data can be found in the
report State of Europe’s Forests 2011 on the FOREST
EUROPE website: www.foresteurope.org and http://www.foresteurope.org/eng/State_of_Europes_Forests_Report_2011/Report/
FOREST EUROPE – The Ministerial Conference
on the Protection of Forests in Europe
FOREST EUROPE is the pan-European policy
process for the sustainable management of the
continent’s forests. It develops common strategies for its 46 participating countries and the
European Union on how to protect and sustainably manage forests. More than 40 international
organisations and countries from other regions
are observers. Founded in 1990, the continuous
cooperation of FOREST EUROPE has led to
achievements such as the guidelines and
criteria for sustainable forest management..
With the Oslo Ministerial Decision ‘European
Forests 2020’, FOREST EUROPE has adopted a
new mission and vision for forest in Europe,
where they contribute effectively to sustainable development, through ensuring human
well-being, a healthy environment and
economic development in Europe and across
the globe. Moreover, ministers took a historical
decision and launched negotiations on a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe.
High-priority topics are to step up efforts and
further consolidate the pan-European policies
and tools for sustainable forest management,
improve the basis for forest monitoring and
harmonized reporting systems, strength efforts
for good governance and forest law enforcement, develop a common approach to valuation of forest ecosystem services and foster its
use, and negotiate a legally binding agreement
on forests in Europe.
FOREST EUROPE
Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests
in Europe. Liaison Unit Madrid.
Julián Camarillo 6B 4A
28037 - Madrid, Spain
T +34 914458410 F +34 913226170
[email protected]