European Forest Ecosystems — State and Trends
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EEA Report No 5/2016 European forest ecosystems State and trends ISSN 1977-8449 EEA Report No 5/2016 European forest ecosystems State and trends Cover design: EEA Cover photos: © Annemarie Bastrup-Birk Layout: EEA/Pia Schmidt Legal notice The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the European Commission or other institutions of the European Union. Neither the European Environment Agency nor any person or company acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this report. Copyright notice © European Environment Agency, 2016 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016 ISBN 978-92-9213-728-1 ISSN 1977-8449 doi:10.2800/964893 All photographs in this report are courtesy of Annemarie Bastrup-Birk. The copyright remains with the photographer. European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv 6 1050 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel.: +45 33 36 71 00 Web: eea.europa.eu Enquiries: eea.europa.eu/enquiries Contents Contents List of tables, figures and maps ................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 7 Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Executive summary .................................................................................................................. 14 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 16 1.1 Report content .......................................................................................................................18 1.2 Europe's forest ecosystems: some key characteristics ....................................................19 2 Maintaining healthy and productive forests in Europe .................................................. 23 2.1 Global forest policies and sustainable development........................................................23 2.2 Forest-relevant policies in the European Union and Europe ...........................................25 3 Forests under combined pressures — European issues ................................................. 30 3.1 Habitat loss and degradation ..............................................................................................31 3.1.1 Resource use ..............................................................................................................31 3.1.2 Land-use changes, deforestation and fragmentation ...........................................33 3.1.3 Illegal logging ..............................................................................................................34 3.2 Invasive alien species and introduced non-native species ..............................................34 3.3 Pollutants and excessive nutrient loading .........................................................................37 3.4 The impacts of climate change ............................................................................................39 3.4.1 Climate change and forest conditions ....................................................................39 3.4.2 Forest fires ..................................................................................................................41 3.5 Other sector activities ...........................................................................................................43 3.6 Are Europe's forests under pressure? ................................................................................44 4 Conditions of forest ecosystems in Europe ...................................................................... 46 4.1 Diverse European forest types ............................................................................................48 4.1.1 Forest composition ....................................................................................................48 4.1.2 Forest structure .........................................................................................................50 4.1.3 Forest functions .........................................................................................................51 4.1.4 Biodiversity and naturalness ....................................................................................52 4.1.5 Semi-natural forests are the dominant forest type in Europe .............................54 4.2 Genetic biodiversity ..............................................................................................................55 4.3 The protection of forests in Europe ....................................................................................56 European forest ecosystems 3 Contents 4.4 The state of nature conservation in Europe's forests .......................................................57 4.5 Forest health and ecosystem services ................................................................................60 5 Forests and their ecosystem services ............................................................................... 62 5.1 Supporting services from forests ........................................................................................64 5.2 Provisioning forest ecosystem services ..............................................................................64 5.2.1 Industrial roundwood ...............................................................................................65 5.2.2 Fuelwood and bioenergy production ......................................................................66 5.2.3 Non-wood forest products .......................................................................................68 5.2.4 Hunting and game management .............................................................................69 5.2.5 Husbandry ..................................................................................................................69 5.3 Regulating forest ecosystem services .................................................................................70 5.3.1 Water retention from forests ...................................................................................70 5.3.2 Climate regulation .....................................................................................................71 5.3.3 Adaptation to climate change ..................................................................................73 5.4 Cultural services ....................................................................................................................73 5.4.1 Recreation and tourism ............................................................................................73 5.4.2 Forests and cities .......................................................................................................75 5.4.3 Wellness — the wider health benefits of urban forests .......................................76 5.5 Payments for ecosystem services .......................................................................................76 6 Healthy and productive forests in Europe ....................................................................... 79 6.1 Are forests in Europe healthy?.............................................................................................79 6.2 Are European forests productive? .......................................................................................80 6.3 Multifunctional forests depend on health and productivity ��������������������������������������������87 6.3.1 Ecosystem-resilience issues for forests ..................................................................87 6.4 Quantifying forest natural capital .......................................................................................88 6.5 Biodiversity, natural capital and the delivery of forest ecosystem services ..................90 7 Sustainable forest management — the way forward? ��������������������������������������������������� 91 7.1 What is then the difference between sustainable forest management and ecosystem-based management? .........................................................................................92 7.2 Current instruments for the assessment of the sustainable management of forest ecosystems .............................................................................................................93 7.3 Europe's forests — a multigovernance reality ...................................................................97 7.3.1 The role of forest ownership ....................................................................................98 7.4 Strengthening the knowledge base for the sustainable development of European forests ...................................................................................................................99 References ............................................................................................................................... 101 Annex 1 Key facts on European forests ............................................................................