Fellings are well below forest growth
In almost all countries, the net annual increment is higher than the annual fellings. In the European region, approximately 40 percent of the 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 58 percent in 1990 to 62 percent in 2010.
Europe remains one of the largest producers of roundwood in the world
In 2010, more than 578 million cubic meters of roundwood were produced. The overall value of marketed roundwood is still increasing and reached EUR 21.1 billion in 2010. Europe’s forests continue to be one of the main roundwood producers in the world. The demand for wood fuel is increasing at a high rate in many European countries.
Non-wood goods can be an important source of local income
The importance of non-wood goods differs between countries; thus, a comprehensive view on all types of these goods across Europe is difficult to obtain. However, the reported data clearly shows that non-wood goods can be an important source of local income. The total reported value of marketed non-wood goods amounts to EUR 2.7 billion and has almost tripled since the 2007 assessment, although some of the increase may be due to improved reporting. In 2010, Christmas trees, fruits and berries, and cork were the most important non-wood income sources. The value of marketed non-wood goods represented 15 percent of the value of marketed roundwood in countries that reported both values.
Outside the Russian Federation, 50 percent of forests are in private ownership
All forests in the Russian Federation are publicly owned – they represent 80 percent of the forest area in the FOREST EUROPE region. Outside the Russian Federation, ownership is distributed equally between private and public, with considerable variation between countries. The proportion of private forests and numbers of private forest holdings have increased over the last 20 years, mainly because of privatization and restitution processes in a number of countries.
Potential for further mechanization vary substantially between regions
Around 4 million people work in the European forest sector, including wood processing and pulp & paper industries. The general trend is a decrease in occupation, but there are substantial differences between regions, which reflect the mechanization level and the potential for increased productivity. As the forestry workforce is ageing, a challenge is the recruitment of new workers to the sector. Forest work still reports a very high accident rate, and relatively few improvements were identified over the past decade.
Source: UNEP.
