A European map of living forest biomass and carbon stock : executive report.
Date: 2013-01-11
Institutions: Institute for Environment and Sustainability
Subjects: biomass, carbon, cartography, ecosystem, environmental monitoring, forest, forestry research, geography, research report, sustainable forest management

A European map of living forest biomass
and carbon stock
Executive report

José I. Barredo, Jesús San Miguel,

Giovanni Caudullo, Lorenzo Busetto 

2 0 1 2

Report EUR 25730 EN

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
European Commission 
Joint Research Centre 

Institute for Environment and Sustainability 

Contact information 
José I. Barredo 

Address: Joint Research Centre, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, TP 261, 21027 Ispra (VA), Italy 

E-mail: jose.barredo@jrc.ec.europa.eu 

Tel.: +39 0332 789 429 

http://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 

http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 

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EUR 25730 EN 

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Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A  European  map  of 
biomass and carbon stock  

living 

forest 

Executive report 

José I. Barredo, Jesús San Miguel, Giovanni Caudullo, Lorenzo Busetto 
Joint Research Centre of the European Commission 
Institute for Environment and Sustainability 
Forest Resources and Climate Unit 
T.P. 261, Via E. Fermi 1, 21020 Ispra (VA), Italy. 

Contents 

Abstract .................................................................................................. 2 

1.  Forest biomass and carbon stock ........................................................... 3 

1.1  Background .................................................................................. 3 

1.2  Data and approach ........................................................................ 3 

2.  Main preliminary results ....................................................................... 6 

3.  Summary ........................................................................................... 9 

References ............................................................................................ 12 

 
 
	
 
 
 
 
 
Abstract	

Forest  ecosystems  have  a  key  role  in  the  global  carbon  cycle  and  are  considered  large  and 
persistent  carbon  sinks.  The  CO2  fixed  by  photosynthesis  is  one  of  the  most  important 
components  of  the  carbon  cycle,  and  forests  play  a  determinant  role  in  this  process. 
Therefore,  spatially  explicit  data  and  assessments  of  forest  biomass  and  carbon  is  of 
paramount  importance  for  the  design  and  implementation  of  effective  sustainable  forest 
management options and forest related policies at the European level. 

The aim of this report is to present a summary of early results of the FOREST Action activities 
on forest biomass and carbon stock in Europe. In this report we present European-wide maps 
of forest biomass and carbon stock at IPCC Tier 1 level. Maps of forest biomass and carbon 
stock  are  relevant  for  quantifying  terrestrial  carbon  storage  and  carbon  sinks  as  well  as  for 
estimating  potential  emissions  from  land  cover  changes  (afforestation,  deforestation, 
reforestation),  forest  fragmentation  and  biotic  (pests)  and  abiotic  (e.g.  forest  fires, 
windstorms)  disturbances.  We  describe  the  input  data  and  approach,  then  present  a 
summary examining the potential of the approach and further work as well as data needs in 
this field.  

The  maps  presented,  implemented  following  the  IPCC  methodology,  represent  spatially 
explicit biomass and carbon stock on forested land disaggregated at 1 km x 1 km grid cells. 
The  resulting  maps  represent  the  biomass  and  carbon  at  continental  level,  accounting  for 
around  90%  of  the  total  continental  amounts  of  biomass  and  carbon  reported  in  the  FAO’s 
Global  Forest  Resource  Assessment  (FRA)  and  State  of  Europe’s  Forest  report  from  the 
Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forest in Europe (MCPFE). To account for regional 
discrepancies the maps were then adjusted to match FRA amounts of biomass and carbon at 
the country level. This report will be followed by an extended report including methodological 
details of the approach implemented. 

2 

	
 
1. Forest	biomass	and	carbon	stock	

1.1  Background 

The focus of the Forest Resources and Climate Unit1 is analysing the role that forests play in 
providing economic (e.g. timber, biomass for renewable energy, etc.) and ecological services 
(biodiversity and soil protection, water supply, etc.), supporting the EU eco-industry and bio-
economy in a transition to a greener Europe. 

Enhancing  forest  biodiversity  is  one  of  the  main  objectives  of  the  EU  Forest  Strategy. 
Moreover,  the  EU  has  set  targets  to  assess  and  halt  biodiversity  loss  in  its  Biodiversity 
Strategy  2020.  In  this  context,  the  FOREST  activities  on  forest  ecosystem  services2 aim  at 
mapping,  assessing,  modelling  and  valuing  forest  ecosystem  goods  and  services  under 
natural and anthropic threats and from multiple policy perspectives. 

Forest  ecosystems  play  a  key  role  in  the  global  carbon  cycle  (Pan  et  al.,  2011).  European 
forests sequester increasing amounts of carbon in tree biomass. Each year about 430 million 
tonnes  of  CO2  (MCPFE,  2011),  or  around  10%  of  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions,  are 
removed  from  the  atmosphere  by  photosynthesis  and  tree  biomass  growth  in  EU  countries. 
In  these  countries  total  carbon  stock  in  forest  biomass  amounts  to  ~9900  million  tonnes 
(MCPFE,  2011).  Therefore  spatially  explicit  maps  of  forest  biomass  and  carbon  stock  are 
relevant for quantifying terrestrial carbon storage and carbon sinks as well as for estimating 
potential  emissions  from  land  cover  changes  (deforestation,  reforestation,  afforestation), 
forest  fragmentation  and  biotic  (pests)  and  abiotic  (e.g.  forest  fires,  windstorms) 
disturbances. 

The  aim  of  this  report  is  to  present  a  summary  of  early  results  of  the  FOREST  activities  on 
forest  biomass  and  carbon  stock  in  Europe.  The  report  is  organised  in  three  sections.  The 
current section describes the rationale, data and  approach for assessing forest biomass and 
carbon  stock.  Section  2  shows  preliminary  results  and  biomass  and  carbon  maps.  This  is 
followed by a summary section examining the potential of the approach and further work in 
this field. 

1.2  Data and approach 

Despite  the  relevance  of  baseline  biomass  and  carbon  information  and  maps  for  policy 
discussions  on  climate  change,  forest  management,  carbon  storage  and  for  assessing  the 
economic value of forest services and products, information on forest biomass is not usually 
easily  accessible.  FAO’s  Forest  Resource  Assessment  –FRA–  (FAO,  2010)  is  a  regularly 
updated  database  on  forest  biomass  and  carbon  at  the  country  level.  At  subnational  level, 
publicly available biomass data from National Forest Inventories (NFI) (Tomppo et al., 2010) 
is  not  available  for  most  European  countries.    Nevertheless,  as  mentioned  above,  updated 
gridded maps of forest biomass are necessary for several purposes. 

In  this  study  the  IPCC  Tier  1  method  (IPCC,  2006;  Ruesch  &  Gibbs,  2008)  was  used  for 
implementing  gridded biomass and carbon stock maps. The Tier 1 method is a cost-effective 
approach  for  biomass  and  carbon  mapping  over  large  geographical  regions  where  gaps  in 
accurate biomass information exist. This method is considered appropriate for continental or 
global  studies.  For  assessments  at  higher  spatial  scales  more  accurate  procedures  are 
deemed  necessary.  In  total  four  maps  at  1  km  grid  size  were  implemented  covering  the 

1 http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/the-institute/units/forest-resources-and-climate.html 
2 http://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/forest-ecosystem-services 

3 

	
																																																								
European  continent:  i.e.  above  ground  and  total  (above  and  below  ground)  living  forest 
biomass and above ground and total carbon stock in living forest biomass. 

IPCC Tier 1 method applied to forest biomass requires two types of data input. First, maps of 
forest  types  (coniferous  and  broadleaved)  and  the  map  of  Global  Ecological  Zones  for  the 
Global  Forest  (FAO,  2001)  (Figure  1).  Secondly,  several  average  amounts  and  factors 
sourced from the IPCC report on Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 
2006):  average  amount  of  biomass  in  forest  per  ecological  zone,  ratio  of  below  ground 
biomass to above ground biomass per ecological zone and carbon fraction of forest biomass. 

The  maps  accounting  for  the  area  of  coniferous  and  broadleaved  forest  types  were  sourced 
from CORINE land cover data (EEA, 1993; EEA, 2000) of 20063 at 100 m grid size. CORINE 
data at 100 m grid size were converted to 1 km grid size maps of coniferous (Figure 2) and 
broadleaved  forest  (Figure  3).  Three  CORINE  land  cover  classes  were  considered  for 
computing  the  area  of  each  forest  type:  broad-leaved  forest,  coniferous  forest  and  mixed 
forest.  This  last  category  was  assumed  to  contain  50%  broadleaved  and  50%  coniferous 
forest. 

At the grid cell level the method computes forest biomass by the product of forest area and 
the  average  amount  of  biomass  in  the  forest  in  the  corresponding  ecological  zone.  Then 
ratios  are  applied  for  computing  the  proportion  of  above/below  ground  forest  biomass  and 
carbon  fraction.  An  additional  step  was  implemented  for  adjusting  the  biomass  and  carbon 
amounts  computed  in  the  maps  with  data  from  the  FAO’s  FRA  (FAO,  2010).  The  maps  are 
then  adjusted  at  the  country  level,  therefore  matching  amounts  of  biomass  and  carbon  as 
presented in FRA. 

Figure 1. Map of Global Ecological Zones for the Global Forest. Source: FAO (2001). 

3 http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/corine-land-cover-2006-clc2006-100-m-version-
12-2009 

4 

	
 
 
																																																								
Figure 2. Coniferous forest map of Europe. Baseline data from CORINE land cover. 

Figure 3. Broadleaved forest map of Europe. Baseline data from CORINE land cover. 

5 

	
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Main	preliminary	results	

The  most  salient  results  of  this  study  are  gridded  maps  of  above  ground  and  total  forest 
biomass  and  carbon  stock  in  forest  biomass  in  Europe.  Overall  accuracy  of  the  maps  was 
assessed comparing, at country level, the maps with biomass and carbon amounts reported 
in  FRA  2010  (FAO,  2010).  Despite  a  general  tendency  towards  underestimation,  results  of 
this assessment indicate that the maps represent reasonably well the biomass and carbon at 
continental  level.  The  maps  account  for  around  90%  of  the  total  continental  amounts  of 
biomass  and  carbon  reported  in  FRA.  Additionally  we  regressed  amounts  of  biomass  and 
carbon  at  country  level  from  the  maps  with  FRA  data  obtaining  statistically  significant  R2 
values ≥0.87 (Table 1). 

Above 
ground forest 
biomass 

Total 
forest 
biomass 

Carbon in above 
ground forest 
biomass 

Carbon in 
total forest 
biomass  

Overall accuracy (%) 

R2 

89  

91 

0.87* 

0.87* 

Total in map (106 tonnes d.m.) 

17,252 

22,130 

Total in FRA  (106 tonnes d.m.) 

19,307 

24,276 

90 

0.88* 

8,471 

9,454 

94 

0.88* 

11,153 

11,884 

Table 1. Accuracy assessment of the biomass and carbon maps, comparison at country level with 
data from the Global Forest Resource Assessment –FRA– (FAO, 2010). Overall accuracy: indicates 
the proportion of biomass/carbon computed in the maps in relation to FRA at continental level. R2 
is  the  coefficient  of  determination  i.e.  the  proportion  of  variability  explained  by  the  regression 
model  (see  text);  (*)  statistically  significant  at  5%  (α=0.05).  Total  in  maps  and  in  FRA  are  the 
amounts computed from the maps and reported in FRA respectively at continental level. 

Despite  good  agreement  between  the  maps  and  FRA  at  continental  level,  a  closer  look  at 
country  level  reveals  higher  discrepancies.  In  some  cases  the  amounts  in  the  maps  are 
reasonably  in  line  with  FRA  (±10%),  while  in  other  cases  there  is  a  larger  discrepancy.  To 
mitigate  these  discrepancies  the  maps  were  adjusted  using  biomass  and  carbon  data  from 
FRA. An adjusting ratio was computed for each country and applied on each grid cell to create 
adjusted biomass and carbon maps. The adjusted maps are in line with reported biomass and 
carbon  in  FRA  at  country  level  and  therefore  at  continental  level.  The  map  in  Figure  4 
represents amounts of biomass on forested land disaggregated at 1 km grid cells. In addition 
to  the  areas  shown  in  the  maps,  the  spatial  domain  also  includes  the  Canary  Islands  and 
Turkey (not totally shown in the figures for better readability of the maps). The carbon map 
(not  shown)  was  implemented  from  the  biomass  map  using  the  carbon  fraction  of  forest 
biomass (~0.5). 

6 

	
 
 
 
 
Figure 4. Map of above ground forest living biomass at 1 km grid size. Map implemented using 
IPCC TIER 1 methodology and adjusted with data from FAO’s FRA. 

Figures  5  and  6  show  amounts  of  biomass  and  carbon  aggregated  at  NUTS-2  level4.  These 
maps  result  from  adding  amounts  of  biomass  and  carbon  of  all  grid  cells  corresponding  to 
each NUTS-2 region. Table 2 shows estimated amounts of above ground forest biomass and 
carbon in a sample of six NUTS-2 regions. The aggregated maps provide an overview of the 
geographical distribution of forest biomass and carbon stock. Nevertheless, two issues should 
be  considered  regarding  these  maps.  First,  that  the  maps  have  been  verified  at  the 
continental level and then adjusted at the country level; however the maps are not validated 
with field data. And second, size differences of the NUTS-2 regions may introduce distortions 
in the perception of the distribution of biomass and carbon stock. 

A  preliminary  accuracy  assessment  of  the  maps  at  NUTS-2  level  was  implemented  using 
available biomass data from the NFIs of Spain5, Portugal6, Sweden7 and Italy8.  Data on total 
biomass  at  NUTS-2  is  available  for  the  first  three  countries  and  above  ground  biomass  for 
Italy. Despite the expected reliability of NFI data, a degree of uncertainty is introduced in the 
accuracy assessment due to different definitions used in NFI, something that could introduce 
some distortion regarding the comparability of the biomass and carbon amounts included in 
the different NFIs. 

4 A description of the NUTS system is available at: 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/nuts_nomenclature/introduction 
5 http://www.magrama.gob.es/en/biodiversidad/servicios/banco-datos-naturaleza/informacion-
disponible/tablas_resumen_IFN3.aspx 
6 http://www.icnf.pt/portal/florestas/ifn/ifn5/relatorio-final-ifn5-florestat-1 
7 http://www.slu.se/en/webbtjanster-miljoanalys/forest-statistics 
8  http://www.sian.it/inventarioforestale/jsp/dati_carquant_tab.jsp 

7 

	
 
 
 
																																																								
Figure 5. Map of above ground forest living biomass aggregated at NUTS-2 level. Baseline map 
implemented using IPCC Tier 1 methodology and adjusted with data from FAO’s FRA. Numbers in 
the map link with Table 2. © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries. 

Reference 
number in 
maps of Fig. 
5 and 6 

NUTS-2 code 

NUTS-2 name 

Estimated above 
ground forest 
biomass (106 
tonnes d.m.) 

Estimated carbon in 
above ground forest 
biomass (106 
tonnes d.m.)  

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

RO41 

Sud-Vest Oltenia 

DE71 

FR71 

ITI1 

ES24 

SE33 

Darmstadt 

Rhône-Alpes 

Toscana 

Aragón 

Övre Norrland 

131 

63 

230 

126 

67 

469 

61 

31 

109 

58 

32 

235 

Table  2.  Estimated  above  ground forest biomass  and  carbon  in  a  sample  of  NUTS-2  regions.  The 
reference number identifies the regions in the maps of figure 5 and 6.  

Three  measures  of  accuracy  were  computed  (Table  3).  First,  we  regressed  amounts  of 
biomass  at  NUTS-2  level  from  the  maps  with  NFI  data  obtaining  statistically  significant  R2 
values of 0.89 and 0.84 for the group of three countries and Italy respectively. Therefore, the 
computed biomass explains respectively 89% and 84% of the variability of the data from the 
NFIs.  Second,  the  absolute  accuracy  of  the  total  amount  (all  NUTS  regions)  of  biomass 
computed  in  the  group  of  tree  countries  and  Italy  is  99%  and  86%  respectively.  Finally, 
mean absolute error (MAE) (Willmott & Matsuura, 2005) indicates that 68% of the residuals 
of the regression fall between ±35 and ±10 million tonnes of biomass in the group of three 
countries and Italy respectively (Figure 7). These results suggest that despite the limitations 

8 

	
 
 
of the approach and data used for mapping biomass and carbon, the maps at NUTS-2 level 
represent faithfully the amounts of biomass and carbon as reported in the NFI. 

Figure 6. Map of above ground forest carbon stock aggregated at NUTS-2 level. Baseline map 
implemented using IPCC Tier 1 methodology and adjusted with data from FAO’s FRA. Numbers in 
the map link with Table 2. © EuroGeographics for the administrative boundaries. 

3. Summary	

Preliminary results of this study are the Tier 1 maps of biomass and carbon stock for Europe. 
The  maps  are  a  faithful  representation  of  the  amounts  of  forest  biomass  and  carbon  at  the 
continental  level.  The  approach  used,  first  implemented  by  Ruesch  and  Gibbs  (2008),  has 
many advantages. It is simple, transparent and a cost-effective option for biomass mapping 
over  large  areas.  In  addition  this  approach  uses  the  standard  and  widely  accepted  IPCC 
(2006)  Tier  1  method  for  carbon  stock  estimation.  Nevertheless  our  resulting  maps  are 
subject to a number of constraints. Among the constraints the first is that the maps were not 
validated  using ground  level  data  on  biomass.  Second,  the Tier  1  approach  using the  FAO’s 
Map  of  Global  Ecological  Zones  may  create  abrupt  changes  between  ecological  zones.  The 
same  effect  may  be  observed  in  the  adjusted  maps  in  country  borders.  Despite  these 
limitations the maps represent baseline information for further assessments regarding forest 
biomass and carbon stock at pan-European level. 

9 

	
 
 
 
 
 
 
Countries assessed 

Number of NUTS-2 regions 
Total in NFIs (106 tonnes d.m.)  
Total in maps (106 tonnes d.m.) 
Absolute accuracy of total amount (%) 
R2 
MAE (106 tonnes d.m.) 

Total biomass 
Spain, Portugal and 
Sweden 
30 
3,604 
3,640 
99 
0.89* 
35 

Above ground biomass 

Italy 

21 
874 
998 
86 
0.84* 
10 

Table  3.  Accuracy  assessment  of  the  biomass  map,  comparison  at  NUTS-2  level  with  data  from 
National  Forest  Inventories  (NFI).  R2  is  the  coefficient  of  determination  i.e.  the  proportion  of 
variability  explained  by  the  regression;  (*)  statistically  significant  at  5%  (α=0.05).  MAE  is  the 
mean absolute error. 

Other  studies  mapping  forest  biomass  either  at  the  continental  or  global  scale  share  some 
common  limitations  with  this  study  regarding  lack  of  biomass  field  data  for  model  fitting 
and/or validation. Kindermann et al. (2008) produced a global study mapping biomass at half 
degree  resolution  using  net  primary  productivity  (NPP),  human  impact  and  FRA  data  at 
country level as independent variables. Their approach consisted of downscaling the country-
level  data  of  FRA  at  half-degree  grid  cells.  Ruesch  and  Gibbs  (2008)  implemented  a  global 
biomass carbon map at the 1 km grid size using IPCC Tier 1 method (the method used in this 
report). Also in this case, the method was not validated with field data. At pan-European level 
Kindermann  et  al.  (2009)  presented  a  1  km  grid  size  map  of  forest  biomass  using  NPP, 
species-specific  yield  tables  and  land  cover  data.  Although  the  resulting  map  is  at  pan-
European scale it was validated for one Austrian region using Lidar data as a proxy for above 
ground biomass. In summary, lack of accessible biomass field data limits the implementation 
of accurate maps of biomass and their validation. 

Assessments  with  high  accuracy  at  sub-national  level  would  demand  methods  and  data 
applicable at higher spatial resolutions for improving the accuracy of the maps and reducing 
uncertainty, but the complexity and resources required also increases. For instance, ideally a 
consistent number of field data (samples at plot level) on canopy height, basal area, growing 
stock and biomass would be used in model development, fitting and validation. Integration of 
this information with environmental predictors of forest biomass would produce more reliable 
and  validated  continental-wide  maps  of  forest  biomass  and  carbon  stock.  Additionally, 
harmonised  biomass  data  at  NUT2/3  levels  for  the  countries  covering  the  spatial  domain 
would allow a more robust accuracy assessment of the maps.   

Figure 7. Regression of the computed biomass at NUTS-2 level with biomass data from National 
Forest Inventories. A) Total biomass in Spain, Portugal and Sweden; B) same as A but with 
logarithmic scale in X and Y axes; C) Above ground biomass in Italy. 

10 

	
 
 
 
 
 
The maps presented are a spatially explicit representation of the amount of biomass/carbon 
on  each  grid  cell,  thus  providing  information  on  where  the  biomass  is  located  within  each 
country. This allows biomass/carbon estimates at subnational NUTS level. The adjusted maps 
provide information in line with FRA and the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forest 
in  Europe  (MCPFE)  and  are  in  reasonable  good  agreement  with  subnational  data  from  NFI. 
Therefore,  the  maps  are  useful  for  estimating  potential  emissions  from  spatial  forest 
dynamics  such  as  deforestation,  afforestation,  forest  fragmentation  and  disturbances. 
Furthermore  the  maps  provide  baseline  information  for  assessing  the  value  of  forest 
ecosystem goods and services at pan-European level.  

The  CO2  fixed  by  photosynthesis  is  one  of  the  most  important  components  of  the  carbon 
cycle,  where  forests  play  a  determinant  role,  being  thus  considered  as  large  and  persistent 
carbon sinks (Pan et al., 2011). Forest ecosystem services constitute the direct and indirect 
contributions of forest to human wellbeing. Therefore, baseline information and assessments 
of  forest  functions  and  services  is  of  paramount  importance  for  the  design  and 
implementation of effective sustainable forest management options and forest related policies 
at the European level. 

11 

	
 
 
 
 
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Year	 2000.	 Available	 online	 http://cdiac.ornl.gov.	 Carbon	 Dioxide	 Information	
Analysis	Center,	Oak	Ridge	National	Laboratory,	Oak	Ridge,	Tennessee.		

Tomppo,	 E.,	 Gschwantner,	 T.,	 Lawrence,	 M.,	 &	 McRoberts,	 R.E.	 (2010).	 National	 Forest	
Inventories	‐	Pathways	for	Common	Reporting.	Springer,	Heidelberg,	Dordrecht,	
London,	New	York,	612.	

Willmott,	C.J.,	&	Matsuura,	K.	(2005).	Advantages	of	the	mean	absolute	error	(MAE)	over	
the	 root	 mean	 square	 error	 (RMSE)	 in	 assessing	 average	 model	 performance.	
Climate	Research,	30,	79‐82.	

12 

	
	
	
	
	
	
 
	
	
	
European Commission 

EUR 25730 EN – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability 

Title: A European map of living forest biomass and carbon stock – Executive report 

Authors: José I. Barredo, Jesús San Miguel, Giovanni Caudullo, Lorenzo Busetto 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 

2012 – 12 pp. – 21.0 x 29.7 cm 

EUR – Scientific and Technical Research series   

ISSN 1831-9424 (online) 

ISBN 978-92-79-28133-4 (pdf) 

doi:	10.2788/780 

Abstract 

Forest ecosystems have a key role in the global carbon cycle and are considered large and persistent carbon sinks. The

CO2  fixed  by  photosynthesis  is  one  of  the  most  important  components  of  the  carbon  cycle,  and  forests  play  a 

determinant  role  in this  process.  Therefore,  spatially explicit data and assessments  of forest biomass and carbon is  of

paramount  importance  for  the  design  and  implementation  of  effective  sustainable  forest  management  options  and

forest related policies at the European level. 

The aim of this report  is to present a summary of early results of  the FOREST Action  activities  on  forest  biomass and

carbon stock in Europe. In this report we present European-wide maps of forest biomass and carbon stock at IPCC Tier 1 

level. Maps of forest biomass and carbon stock are relevant for quantifying terrestrial carbon storage and carbon sinks

as well as for estimating potential emissions from land cover changes (afforestation, deforestation, reforestation), forest 

fragmentation and biotic (pests) and abiotic (e.g. forest fires, windstorms) disturbances. We describe the input data and

approach, then present a summary examining the potential of the approach and further work as well as data needs in

this field. 

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As the Commission’s in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre’s mission is to provide
EU  policies  with  independent,  evidence-based  scientific  and  technical  support  throughout  the 
whole policy cycle. 

Working  in  close  cooperation  with  policy  Directorates-General,  the  JRC  addresses  key  societal 
challenges while stimulating innovation through developing new standards, methods and tools,
and sharing and transferring its know-how to the Member States and international community. 

Key  policy  areas  include:  environment  and  climate  change;  energy  and  transport;  agriculture
and  food  security;  health  and  consumer  protection;  information  society  and  digital  agenda;
safety  and  security  including  nuclear;  all  supported  through  a  cross-cutting  and  multi-
disciplinary approach.