Forest tree cover is basic for sustainability assessments.

Measuring forest tree cover helps tracking changes, both gain and losses and supports policies related to reforestation, afforestation and ecosystem restoration.

FOREST COVER CHANGE

Forest tree cover change (as percentage of country area) according to Corine Land Cover datasets.

 


LAND COVER STATISTICS

The main land cover and land use classes are:

  • Artificial areas
  • Agriculture areas
  • Forests
  • Semi-natural areas
  • Wetlands
  • Water bodies
 

GROWING STOCK


The growing stock volume has increased steadily over the last decades.

 


ROUNDWOOD REMOVALS

The removals of roundwood from forests have increased steadily over the last decades, only interrupted for a few years around the financial crisis in 2008.

The turnover of the roundwood from European forests is around 19% to be used by industry and for energy.

 


FOREST PATCH DISTRIBUTION

Large and intact forest ecosystems support characteristic, wide-ranging, and area-sensitive species, especially those that depend on interior forest.

Increased fragmentation means that the forest area in the largest patch sizes will decrease and that in the small size classes will increase.

Deforestation may cause the disappearance of the smallest patches and a consequent reduction in the importance of that size class