Commission staff working document - Background information Accompanying document to the Draft Green Paper on: Forest Protection and Information in the EU: Preparing forests for climate change COM(2010)66 final
Date: 2010-03-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: climate change, forest, forest conservation, forestry policy, impact study, information system, management of resources, natural disaster, sustainable development, wood industry

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 1.3.2010 
SEC(2010)163 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

Accompanying document to the 

Draft Green Paper on: 
Forest Protection and Information in the EU: Preparing forests for climate change 

COM(2010)66 final 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

Draft Green Paper on: 
Forest Protection and Information in the EU: Preparing forests for climate change 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

1.3. 

1.4. 

1.5. 

1.6. 

1.7. 

1.8. 

1.9. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Annex A: Overview of EU Policy Tools that relate to forests and forestry ................ 3 

The Forestry Strategy for the EU and the EU Forest Action Plan ............................... 3 

The Action Plan on Innovative and Sustainable forest-based industries in the EU..... 3 

Environmental policy ................................................................................................... 4 

Agricultural policy ....................................................................................................... 5 

Energy policy ............................................................................................................... 6 

Industrial, Trade and Market Policies .......................................................................... 6 

Plant Health Policy....................................................................................................... 7 

Research policy ............................................................................................................ 7 

Cohesion policy............................................................................................................ 8 

Annex B: forest map of Europe ................................................................................... 9 

Annex C: Key Facts and Figures on European Forests ............................................. 10 

Annex D: List of Acronyms....................................................................................... 13 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
1. 

ANNEX  A:  OVERVIEW  OF  EU  POLICY  TOOLS  THAT  RELATE  TO  FORESTS  AND 
FORESTRY 

1.1. 

The Forestry Strategy for the EU and the EU Forest Action Plan 

The 1998 Council Resolution on a Forestry Strategy for the EU1 is the basic political 
charter of the EU forest sector. It sets out multifunctionality as the common principle 
of  EU  forestry,  and  identifies  sustainable  forest  management  as  the  main  tool  for 
assuring  the  fulfilment  of  all  forest  functions,  i.a.  for  the  conservation  and 
enhancement  of  the  biological  diversity  as  well  as  one  of  the  measures  to  combat 
climate change. It confirms the National Forest Programme as the basic policy tool 
and lists a series of ongoing international processes and activities to be followed up 
at  national  and  EU  level.  It  puts  responsibility  for  forest  policy  with  the  Member 
States  according  to  the  principle  of  subsidiarity2  and  concludes  that  all  common 
measures  affecting  forests  and  forest  products  should  be  in  line  with  the  aims  and 
recommendations of this strategy. This approach is based on the absence of a specific 
provision for an EU forest policy in the Treaties establishing the European Union. It 
implies  that  the  formulation  and  implementation  of  forest  policy  is  primarily  an 
internal matter for Member States. 

The  Forestry  Strategy  also  addresses  the  need  for  better  integration  of  forests  and 
forest  products  in  all  relevant  sectoral  common  policies,  even  those  generally  not 
being specifically related to forests. 

The EU Forest Action Plan3 which builds on the EU Forestry Strategy has been set 
up in close cooperation of Member States and the Commission. It addresses activities 
to  enhance  competitiveness,  in  improving  the  environment  and  contributing  to  the 
quality  of  life  and  stresses  the  need  for  coordination  and  cooperation.  These  are 
grouped around 18 key actions which i.a. focus on forest protection and monitoring. 
The Forest Action Plan does not setup new policy means but refers to existing sector 
policies with relevance to forests, which are outlined below. 

1.2. 

The  Action  Plan  on  Innovative  and  Sustainable  forest-based  industries  in  the 
EU 

The  2008  Communication  on  innovative  and  sustainable  forest-based  industries  in 
the EU4 includes a 19-point action plan to improve the long-term competitiveness of 
the  forest-based  sector  while  integrating  climate  change  and  energy  objectives  into 
the sector’s strategy. The actions it proposes are complementary to the Forest Action 
Plan regarding the competitiveness of EU FBI, focussing on access to raw material, 
impact of climate change, innovation, trade and communication. 

1 
2 

3 
4 

OJ C 56/1 of 26 February 1999. 
It  is  the  principle  whereby  the  Union  does  not  take  action  (except  in  the  areas  which  fall  within  its 
exclusive competence) unless it is more effective than action taken at national, regional or local level. 
Forest Action Plan 2006 COM(2006) 302 final 
COM(2008)113  

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
                                                 
1.3. 

Environmental policy 

•  Policy on nature protection 

Natura  2000  is  the  core  element  of  EU  policy  to  protect  nature  and  biodiversity.  It 
consists  of  sites  designated  as  required  by  the  Habitats  and  Birds  Directives5  and 
covers around 17% of the total EU land area. Forest habitats constitute almost 30% 
of the designated terrestrial sites. 

A  recent  assessment6  indicates  that  many  habitats  (including  forests)  are  in 
unfavourable  conservation  status  and  that  in  many  MS,  information  about  the 
conservation status of designated Natura 2000 is lacking. The evaluation of the EU 
contribution to halt the loss of biodiversity by 20107,  has shown that this objective 
will  not  be  met  mainly  because  conservation  of  biodiversity  in  the  use  of  natural 
resources (such as forests, agriculture and fisheries) beyond protected areas has not 
advanced  as  expected.  Annex  4  gives  an  overview  of  Natura  2000  designations  of 
forest habitats by MS. 

•  Climate policy  

EU climate policy focuses on mitigation by reduction of GHG emissions but the need 
for adaptation to climate change is increasingly recognized. The key instruments are 
the  European  Union  Emission  Trading  Scheme  (ETS)  and  the  Effort  Sharing 
Decision8 (ESD) for reducing emissions, with policies on renewable energy, energy 
efficiency, etc. playing an additional role. 

The EU considers that to achieve its overall targets, all sectors, including the forest 
sector  and  land  use,  land  us  change  and  forestry  (LULUCF),  must  make  a 
contribution9. According to the ESD and ETS directive10, the Commission will have 
to  submit  a  report  assessing,  inter  alia,  the  appropriate  modalities  for  including 
emissions and removals related to land use, land use change and forestry in the EU." 
On the basis of this report, the Commission shall, if appropriate, submit a legislative 
proposal  related  to  LULUCF  in  the  EU  GHG  reduction  commitment,  including 
provisions  on  accurate  monitoring  and  accounting  according  to  harmonised 
modalities. This suggests that forest carbon data should be better harmonised in the 
EU GHG inventory. 

•  Water policy  

The WFD11 sets a single framework for the protection of all EU waters with the aim 
of reaching "good ecological status" as a rule by 2015. The originality of the WFD 
lies  in  the  adoption  of  the  river  basin  district  as  the  basic  water  management  unit 
based  on  natural  geography  and  hydrology,  across  to  administrative  boundaries. 

5 

6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 

EN 

92/43/EC 

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/nature/legis.htm; 

Directive 
79/409/EC http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/nature/legis.htm 
Ref. to Art. 17 HD - http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/knowledge/rep_habitats/index_en.htm 
Ref. to EEA report & Athens conference press comm 
ESD: Decision No 406/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 
COM(2007)2 "Limiting climate change to 2° …" & COM(2005)35 "Winning the Battle …" 
Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April2009 
Directive 2000/60/EC of the EP and the Council 

Directive 

4 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Practically, the WFD could allow MS to support forest protection in order to assure 
water  quality,  although  there  is  no  specific  support  for  water  related  forestry 
(managing forest soils to enhance groundwater quantity and quality) at EU level.  

The  introduction  of  schemes  for  payment  of  ecosystem  services  (PES)12  that 
remunerate  forest  owners  and  managers  for  taking  a  water-conscious  approach  is  a 
promising development.  

•  Forest fire management/disaster prevention 

The  European  Forest  Fire  Information  System  (EFFIS),  in  operation  since  2000,  is 
based  on  the  scientific  work  developed  at  the  EC  Joint  Research  Centre  in 
cooperation with DG Environment. It collects fire statistics on fire occurrence from 
the European (EU and neighbour) countries( are provided on the basis of voluntary 
co-operation)In  addition  to  the  information  received  from  the  countries,  daily  fire 
danger forecasts and fire damage assessments are generated through the use of GIS 
and  remote  sensing  technologies.  The  information  provided  to  and  generated  by 
EFFIS  feeds  the  European  Forest  Data  Centre  (EFDAC)13.  Information  in  EFFIS 
supports  decision-making  for  fire  prevention  and  preparedness  for  fires,  assists  in 
urgent action during active fires, allows to better evaluate the effects of fires as well 
as  to  assess  post-fire  damages.  The  operational  part  of  EFFIS  is  currently  financed 
from the LIFE+ budget on an ad hoc basis. 

1.4. 

Agricultural policy 

in 

the  EU.  The  measures  address 

The  Rural  Development  Regulation  (RDR  /  2007-201314)  of  the  Common 
Agricultural  Policy  (CAP)  offers  a  wide  range  of  EU  co-financing  measures  for 
managing forest land, which have become the main EU financial instrument for the 
forest  sector 
the 
competitiveness  of  farm  and  forest  holdings,  giving  grants  for  improvement  of  the 
environment including prevention actions and co-financing activities to maintain the 
quality of life and diversification of incomes in rural areas. The aid given therefore 
also  contributes to job creation and income  maintaining vital  rural  societies.  It also 
plays  a  prominent  role  when  financing  measures  for  adapting  forests  to  climate 
change.  MS  have  spent  between  5  and  10  %  of  their  EU  co  funded  Rural 
Development  budget  on  forests  since  200015.  From  2000-2006,  10  %  of  the  RD 
budget  (4,8  bn  €)  went  for  forestry  support,   split  50/50  between  afforestation  and 
other measures. 

improvement  of 

the 

According  to  recent  Commission  reporting16,  during  the  period  2007  –  2013, 
programming  of  forest  measures  has  decreased  compared  to  the  previous  budget 
period and afforestation has lost importance compared to other measures. According 
to  the  programming  before  the  modification  due  to  the  CAP  Health  Check  and 

12 
13 
14 
15 

16 

"The Economic Value of Groundwater in European Forests – IUCN/EC 2009 
See http://timber.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/meetings/05-jrc-gaigalas.pdf for detailed description 
RDR: Council Regulation (EC) 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the EAFRD 
EU Forestry Strategy report COM (2005) 84 (working paper) and the recent "Report on implementation 
of Forestry Measures under the Rural Development Regulation 1698/2005 for the period 2007-2013", 
available at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/fore/publi/index_en.htm  
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/fore/publi/index_en.htm 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Recovery Package the EAFRD will spend €  8 billion (from a total RD commitment 
2007-2013 of € 90.8 billion) for forests and fo restry-related measures. This includes 
€  2.8  billion  for  planting  approximately  890,000  ha  of  new  forests,  support  for 
managing  400,000  hectares  of  Natura  2000  forest  areas  and  forest-  environment 
measures  covering  2  million  hectares,  as  well  as  support  for  implementing  fire 
prevention measures. 

The additional funding related to the Health Check17 and the Recovery Package also 
allows  providing  more  support  for  climate  change,  renewable  energy,  water 
management and biodiversity measures. Part of the total additional funding of € 4.4 
billion is likely to be directly related to forestry measures. 

1.5. 

Energy policy 

Wood  for  heating  or  electricity  generation  and  combined  heat  and  power  (CHP) 
based  on  biomass  (from  waste,  forest  and  agriculture)  remain  the  main  renewable 
energy  source  (RES)  in  the  EU.  After  a  number  of  earlier  initiatives18,  the  Council 
and the EP adopted the EU Climate and Energy Package on 23 April 2009, including 
a Directive on the promotion of energies from renewable sources (RES-D)19 that 
set  an  overall  binding  target  for  the  European  Union  to  achieve  a  20%  renewable 
energy share by 2020 and a 10 % target for renewable energy used in transport. 

The increase in biomass use generated by the RES-D brings opportunities for the EU 
forest sector but leads also to increased competition between other users of the raw 
material  (e.g.,  pulp,  building  material,  furniture).  This  situation  may  justify 
additional efforts to improve forest information in the EU. 

The  RES-D  includes  sustainability  criteria20  for  biomass  used  for  biofuels  and 
bioliquids,  which  concerns  feedstock  mainly  coming  from  agricultural  crops  and 
residues  but  also  from  forests  and  waste..  By  the  end  of  2009,  the  Commission  is 
required by Article 17(9) of RES-D to present a report on the need for sustainability 
criteria  for  other  types  of  biomass  used  for  energy  purposes,  namely  solid  and 
gaseous biomass used for heat and electricity generation. 

1.6. 

Industrial, Trade and Market Policies 

(SCP/SIP)  establishes  a 

The  Action  Plan  on  Sustainable  Consumption  and  Production  and  Sustainable 
Industrial  Policy 
integrated 
implementation  of  a  mix  of  instruments  aims  at  improving  the  energy  and 
environmental  performances  of  products.  It  includes,  a  voluntary  green  public 
procurement policy  covering  environmental criteria for use in tendering procedures 
for products and services commonly purchased by public bodies, including specific 
environmental criteria for wood and wood products21, and the revised EU Ecolabel22 
which also sets specific criteria for wood and wood products. 

framework 

the 

for 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/healthcheck/index_en.htm 
RES-E  2001/77  -  Directive  2003/30/EC  on  the  promotion  of  biofuels  –  Biomass  Action  Plan 
COM(2005)628 
RES-D : Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April2009 
Art 17 RES-D , related only to counting against the 10 % biofuels target 
More information at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/index_en.htm 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
                                                 
The possible differences between different sustainability criteria for wood as a bio-
energy  source  and  as  a  building  material  have  raised  concerns  in  the  forest  sector 
about: 

–  Efficient trading of forest products as green and renewable materials; 

–  National  public  procurement  systems  possibly  not  complying  with  EU 
sustainability  criteria  and  EU  procurement  rules  as  well  as  discriminating  forest 
products compared to competing materials. 

The  Commission  recently  adopted  a  communication  reflecting  the  concerns  of  the 
EU industry regarding access to raw materials, including wood from EU forests23. 

1.7. 

Plant Health Policy 

The Community plant health regime (CPHR), deals with organisms harmful to plants 
and plant products. It regulates the trade of plants and plant products within the EU 
as well as imports from the rest of the world. It also implements preventive measures 
to  guard  against  the  introduction  and  spread  of  harmful  organisms  with  quarantine 
status  harmful  to  plants  and  ensures  quality  conditions,  including  the  health  status, 
for the sale multiplication of propagating material in agriculture and forestry within 
the EU through certification schemes. 

Nevertheless  these  schemes  do  not  contain  provisions  to  manage  and  control  the 
natural spread of organisms below a quarantine threshold, or provisions for insects, 
fungi  and  plants  normally  found  in  forest  ecosystems  that  do  not  always  cause 
damage,  but  could  become  harmful  and/or invasive  with  the  changes  due  to  global 
warming. 

1.8. 

Research policy 

In  the  7th  Framework  Programme  (FP7  2007-2013)  forest  research  in  a  broader 
sense,  falls  mainly  under  the  “Cooperation”  programme.  During  the  former 
Framework Programme and with the goal of developing the European Research Area 
and  reaching  the  Lisbon  objectives,  the  EC  promoted  the  creation  of  "technology 
platforms",  and  launched  the  ERA-Net  programme  to  improve  the  coordination  of 
national  research  programmes.  The  forest  sector  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
technology platform and in building an ERA-Net project that is currently running. 

The JRC has always been active on issues related to forests, such as remote sensing, 
climate  change,  forest  monitoring,  forest  fragmentation,  forest  fires  and  forest 
information  systems.  The  intergovernmental  framework  for  European  Co-operation 
in  the  field  of  Scientific  and  Technical  Research  (COST)  has  supported  important 
projects24 such as COST E27 on harmonization of Protected Forest Areas and COST 
E43 on Harmonization of National Forest Inventories. 

22 
23 
24 

More information at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/index_en.htm 
COM(2008)699 
COST E27: harmonization of Protected Forest Areas and COST E43: Harmonization of National Forest 
Inventories 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
                                                                                                                                                         
In 2005 major EU forest based industries decided to co-fund a European Technology 
Platform25 to ensure their contribution for a globally competitive EU economy. 

The  recent  call  under  FP7  on  the  functional  significance  of  forest  biodiversity, 
including  soil  biodiversity26  should  provide  improved  scientific  information  for  the 
management and sustainable use of forest ecosystems. 

1.9. 

Cohesion policy 

•  Regional policy 

In the current programming period 2007-2013, the environment is a key priority of 
Cohesion Policy with more than 30 % of the total planned allocations to be spent on 
environmental actions. 

Even though forests are only directly addressed in the frame of forest fire prevention, 
a number of priority themes affect forests and forest management in a much broader 
perspective. 

Cohesion Policy supports investments in renewable energies such as biomass and co-
finances  as  well  programmes  and  projects  that  preserve  and  promote  natural  areas 
and biodiversity, including in forests. In addition, the significant funding for natural 
risk  prevention  or  the  rehabilitation  of  contaminated  land  leads  to  projects  dealing 
with forest management. In this framework, it is up to the Member States to make the 
actual selection and implementation of the co-financed projects. Therefore Cohesion 
Policy is one of the policies available to MS and regions to develop forest protection 
measures. 

In  addition,  in  the  frame  of  European  Territorial  Cooperation  (ETC),  a  number  of 
cross-border,  transnational  and  interregional  projects  deal  with  forestry  and  forest 
management,  such  as  the  impact  of  climate  change  on  forests27.  The  goal  is  to 
exchange good practices, transfer know-how and/or to set up and implement shared 
management strategies across borders. 

•  The EU Solidarity Fund 

The EU Solidarity Fund (SF)28 assists MS in coping with damage caused by major 
natural  disasters  including  storms  and  forest  fires.  Financial  assistance29  from  the 
EUSF may however only be used for a limited types of remediation and restoration 
measures carried out by the public authorities. France,  Germany, Greece,  Slovakia, 
Spain and Sweden have recently received its support to address large forest damages. 

25 
26 
27 

28 
29 

See http://www.forestplatform.org/ for detailed information 
ENV.2010.2.1.4.1 
A current project example in this area is 'ForestClim': http://www.forestclim.eu/. Another ETC project 
example is the 'Balticforest' project: http://www.balticforest.net/ 
Established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/solidar/solid_en.htm  

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
                                                 
2. 

ANNEX B: FOREST MAP OF EUROPE 

Source: JRC 

Note: This image has a resolution of 600 dpi and should be expanded to several times the size show so 
as reveal its level of detail.  

EN 

9 

   EN 

 
 
3. 

ANNEX C: KEY FACTS AND FIGURES ON EUROPEAN FORESTS 

Forest & OWL (1) 

Forest available 
for wood supply 

Fellings in % of net 
annual increment 

1000 
ha 

3.980 

698 

Austria 

Belgium  

Bulgaria 

3.678 

Cyprus 

388 

Czech Republic 

2.647 

Denmark 

Estonia 

636 

2.358 

Finland 

23.311 

France 

17.262 

Germany (2) 

11.076 

Greece  

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

6.532 

1.948 

710 

11.026 

3.150 

2.198 

88 

0 

Netherlands 

365 

Poland (2) 

9.200 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

3.867 

6.649 

1.932 

1.308 

Spain  

28.214 

Sweden 

30.929 

United Kingdom 

2.865 

EU27 (3) 

177016 

% of 
land 
area 

% of forest 

48 

23 

34 

42 

34 

15 

56 

77 

31 

32 

51 

22 

10 

37 

51 

35 

34 

1 

11 

30 

42 

29 

40 

65 

57 

75 

12 

42 

84 

96 

70 

11 

95 

61 

89 

86 

85 

99 

53 

86 

92 

81 

90 

83 

98 

- 

81 

91 

52 

70 

91 

88 

37 

69 

83 

73 

60 

85 

41 

16 

84 

35 

52 

69 

55 

50 

48 

56 

- 

26 

68 

73 

38 

- 

70 

55 

103 

46 

75 

44 

67 

86 

48 

60 

Forest 
public 
under 
ownership  area  as  %  of 
forest area (5) 

% of Forests (not including OWL) 
with a protective function

(4) 

% 

2005 

% 

2000 

22 

22 

17 

- 

15 

7 

12 

3 

3 

27 

- 

12 

- 

5 

4 

15 

1 

- 

- 

38 

1 

- 

16 

7 

15 

12 

- 

11 

25 

26 

16 

- 

15 

7 

11 

3 

3 

34 

- 

9 

- 

5 

4 

16 

1 

- 

- 

35 

6 

29 

18 

9 

13 

11 

- 

13 

20 

44 

92 

61 

77 

28 

38 

32 

26 

53 

78 

61 

64 

35 

54 

77 

46 

- 

50 

83 

7 

94 

52 

28 

30 

20 

36 

39 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
(1) OWL: Other wooded land 

(2) Data do not cover OWL 

(3) Totals exclude Ireland for net annual increment and fellings 

(4) According to MCPFE assessment guidelines 

(5) Includes forests owned by the state, provinces, regions and municipalities.  

- : no data or very small value / Italics show estimates using pre-2005 data  

Ecological aspects 

Forest 
Cover 

Species 
Composition 

Age 
Structure 

Growing 
Stock 

Carbon 
Budget 

Biodiversity; 
Naturalness 

Protected 
Areas 

Growth; 
Vitality 

EU (or Pan-European) average 

40% (177 
million. 
ha) 

50% Coniferous 
25% Broadleaved 
25% Mixed 

87% Even-
aged forests 

151 m3/ha 
(Pan-Europe, 
excluding 
Russia) 

9.8 billion 
tons of C 
stored (2005, 
EU-27) 

Increasing 
total growing 
stock 

137 Mio. 
tons annual 
storage of C 
between 
1990-2005 
(MCPFE 
Region) 

From 2000 
to 2005, 
annual 
increase in C 
store in EU 
forests was 
less than 
10% of CO2 
equivalent 
emissions of 
MS (EU-27) 

7% 
increase 
since 
1990 

30% single tree 
species dominated 
forests; 50% 
forests of 2-3 tree 
species; 17% 
forests of 4-5 tree 
species; 3% forests 
of 6-10 tree 
species (MCPFE 
region) 

Slowly increasing 
percentage of 
multi-species 
forests (MCPFE 
region) 

8,1 million ha 
(5%) (Pan-Europe, 
excl. Russia) 
dominated by 
introduced 
species; 10% 
(0.5% of the total 
forest area) of that 
area are dominated 
by invasive 
species 

87% Semi-natural 
forests 

5% undisturbed by 
man (natural 
forests) 

8% plantations 

over 60% of forest 
habitats under 
Natura 2000 
present and 
unfavourable 
conservation status 

11 forest mammal 
species threatened 

8% forest 
biodiversity 
and land-
scape conser-
vation area 

13% of forest 
surface 
designated 
Habitats 
Directive 
sites (EU-27) 

Below 2% 
are strictly 
protected 
forest areas 

Site pro-
ductivity and 
tree growth: 
Increasing in 
Northern 
and Central 
Europe; 
Decreasing 
in Southern 
Europe 

22% 
damaged or 
dead forests 
(crown 
conditions) 

Stable crown 
conditions; 
defoliation 
of oak and 
spruce, 
improve-
ments of 
pine and 
beech 

Exemplary regional patterns 

Increase 
in rural 
and 
mountain 
areas 

Predominantly 
coniferous 
forests: 
Scandinavian and 
Baltic states 

2/3 of the 
forests in 
Central Europe 
are younger 
than 60 years 

Record volume 
increase of 
growing stock 
per hectare in 
Central Europe 

Decrease 
in densely 
populated 
regions 

Predominantly 
broadleaved 
forests: Southern 
and Western 
Europe 

Forests aged 1-
20 years cover 
an area twice 
as large as 
forests aged 
81-100 years in 
North Europe 

Forest birds 
populations: 

Decline in 
North and 
South Europe; 
Stable 
populations in 
Western and 
Eastern Europe 

Strictly 
protected 
areas in 
North/Baltic 
and South-
East Europe 

Areas 
actively 
managed for 
conservation 
in Central, 
North-
Western and 
South 
Europe 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Sources: CEC (2008); EEA (2008); FAO (2007); ICP Forests (2004); MCPFE (2007); UNECE/FAO 
(2005), MCPFE/ECE/FAO State of Europe's Forests 2007& Habitats Directive Art 17 report (2001-
2006) 

Europe’s forests are, as compared to forests on other continents, growing in area and standing volume, 
are  intensively  managed,  rather  young  and  dominated  by  even-aged  stands.  They  are,  however, 
regionally diverse in terms of tree species composition, growth, and biodiversity. While natural forests 
rarely  occur,  very  intensively  used  plantations  are  also  rare.  Thus,  the  dominance  of  semi-natural 
forests types shaped by a variety of social demands and locally diverse forest management practices is 
one of the main characteristics of European Union (EU) forests.  

Area of forest habitats designated under Natura 2000: (database DG ENV - February 2009) 

N2000  terrestrial  area 
(1.000 ha) 

forest 

N2000 
habitats** 
designated  under  the  N2000  total 
land area (%) 

Natura  2000 
habitats 
FOWL (%) 

types 

forest 
in 

Austria  

Belgium  

Bulgaria  

Cyprus  

Czech Republic  

Denmark  

Estonia  

Finland  

France  

Germany* 

Greece  

Hungary  

Ireland  

Italy  

Latvia  

Lithuania  

Luxembourg  

Malta  

Netherlands  

Poland* 

Portugal  

Romania  

Slovakia  

Slovenia  

1.153 

388 

3.766 

101 

1.045 

386 

799 

4.864 

6.842 

4.847 

2.762 

1.956 

780 

5.737 

712 

909 

46 

4 

579 

5.163 

1.872 

4.885 

1.413 

720 

18 

29 

32 

53 

17 

9 

20 

29 

10 

17 

21 

22 

1 

20 

9 

5 

31 

2 

2 

12 

11 

26 

23 

34 

5 

16 

33 

13 

7 

6 

7 

6 

4 

7 

9 

23 

2 

10 

2 

2 

14 

0 

2 

7 

5 

20 

17 

19 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
  
Spain  

Sweden  

United Kingdom  

EU 27 

13.464 

6.015 

1.736 

72.943 

18 

33 

3 

20 

9 

6 

2 

8 

* data do not cover OWL 

** Sites of community importance for forest habitats 

4. 

ANNEX D: LIST OF ACRONYMS 

CBD 

COST 

CHP 

CPHR 

EEA 

Convention on Biological Diversity 

European Cooperation in Science and Technology 

Combined heat and power plants 

Community plant health regime 

European Environment Agency 

EFDAC 

European Forest Data Centre 

EFFIS 

EFICP 

European Forest Fire Information System 

European Forest Information and Communication Platform 

EFSOS 

European Forest Sector Outlook Study 

ETP 

ETS 

FAO 

FAP 

FBI 

FP7 

FS 

FTP 

GHG 

GIS 

European Technology Platforms 

EU Emissions Trading System 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 

Forest Action Plan 

Forest Based Industries 

7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development 

European Forest Strategy 

Forest Technology Platform 

Greenhouse Gas 

Geographic Information Systems 

GMES 

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security 

IACS 

Integrated administration and control system 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
INSPIRE 

Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe 

IUFRO 

International Union of Forest Research Organizations 

LULUCF 

Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry 

MCPFE 

Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe 

MS 

NFI 

NFP 

OWL 

REDD 

RES D 

EU Member States 

National Forest Inventories 

National Forest Programmes 

Other Wooded Lands 

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation  

EU Directive on the promotion of energies from renewable sources 

SCP/SIP 

Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy 

SEIS 

SF 

SFM 

SME 

Shared Environmental Information System 

EU Solidarity Fund 

Sustainable Forest Management  

Small and Medium Enterprises 

UN CCD 

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 

UN ECE 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 

UNFCCC 

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 

EN 

14 

   EN