Forests, if managed sustainably, play an essential role in climate and biodiversity protection

Love Paper Fact File - Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the name formed from the two words “biological” and “diversity”. Biodiversity refers not only to all organic life that can be found on Earth, from fungi and plants to animals and micro-organisms, but also the communities that they create and the habitats they live in.

Forests cover 31% of the world’s total land area and cover 40% of the European territory. European forests are growing in both area and volume with the current total volume at approximately 28 billion m³, which is growing by around 612 million m³ every year.¹

Nearly 24%, almost 50 million hectares (1 hectare = 10,000 square metres), of forests are in areas protected for the conservation of biodiversity and landscape, which is considerably more than the amount protected several decades ago. The area of forests designated for biodiversity conservation has increased by 65% in 20 years, and the area designated for landscape conservation by 8%.²

Over 1000 different animal species live within European forests!

World Atlas, 2020

Forests are one of the world’s most valuable resources and home to more than half the world’s land-based animal and plant species.

WWF, Why Forests Are So Important, August 2021

Over the last 37 years, there were only minor changes in the common forest bird species in European forests. This fact indicates the overall stability of the forest environment and biodiversity in Europe.

State of Europe’s Forests, 2020

Forests in Europe are becoming more diverse in species

Forests are one of the world’s most valuable resources and home to more than half the world’s land-based animal and plant species. 67% of the European forest area is composed of two or more tree species.²

The vast majority of land-dwelling biodiversity is found in the world’s forests. Together they contain more than 60,000 different tree species and provide habitats for 80% of amphibian species, 75% of bird species and 68% of mammal species.³

Sources:

1.EU Greensource, 2021

2.State of Europe’s Forests, 2020

3.FAO, The State of the World’s Forests, 2020

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