Therefore forestry is the second largest sector of agriculture. Owing to the privatisation and compensation of the past years, the ownership structure of forests has changed. A further increase in the area of forests is still an important objective. This is partly explained by the fact that forest plantation is an alternative land use. The health condition of forests is improving though only slightly.
Environmental aspects play an important role in the new forestry policy.
The commodity structure of export is also better, the ratio of processed wooden products has increased. Exports of wooden products are predominantly to Member States of the European Union, whereas imports are dominated by Middle and Eastern European countries.