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 = the size of Spain 11 May 2023 The area of forest designated for biodiversity conservation has increased by 65% in 20 years 11 May 2023 The total volume of Europe’s forests is 28 billion m3 11 May 2023 1/3 of EU annual forest growth is not harvested 11 May 2023 The EU forest-based sector climate benefit amounts to mitigating 20% of all fossil emissions in the European Union 11 May 2023 The forest-based industry employs 4 million Europeans 08 Mar 2023 Forest fibre-based industry uses 62.2% of renewable energy in operations Download 08 Mar 2023 The recycling rate of fibre-based packaging is 83.2% Download
