Key Facts 11 May 2023 Land covered by forests in Europe has increased by 59,000km2 in the last 15 years. (State of Europe’s Forests 2020). In 2020, the EU had an estimated 160 millions hectares of forests (excluding other wooded land); in relative terms, this means that forests covered around 40 % of the EU land area 11 May 2023 1/4 of forests in Europe are already designated for biodiversity protection; this is equivalent to the size of Spain. Download 11 May 2023 The area of forest designated for biodiversity conservation has increased by 65% in 20 years Download 11 May 2023 The total volume of Europe’s forests is 28 billion m3 Download 11 May 2023 1/3 of EU annual forest growth is not harvested Download 11 May 2023 The EU forest-based sector climate benefit amounts to mitigating 20% of all fossil emissions in the European Union Download 11 May 2023 The forest-based industry employs 4 million Europeans Download 08 Mar 2023 Forest fibre-based industry uses 62.2% of renewable energy in operations Download 08 Mar 2023 The recycling rate of paper & cardboard packaging is already 86.6% – well on its way to reaching the 90% goal by 2030 Download
