Forest utilisation

A total of 26 EU countries reported on their forest utilisation rates during the 1990–2010 period (UNECE and FAO, 2011a and Forest Europe, 2015). The information underpinning this indicator has not been updated since 2010. In most countries that reported their forest utilisation rate, it remained below 100 % for the 1990–2010 period (Figure 2).

Forest utilisation rates vary widely across the countries and over time, from 20 % to more than 100 %. Some countries have experienced severe storms in recent decades, which caused large natural losses as well as reductions in increment. This partly explains some of the high utilisation rates of some countries.

It should be stressed that medium- or short-term exceedance of the forest utilisation rate does not necessarily mean that the use of forest resources is unsustainable, as it may reflect severe storms or the harvesting of mature forests, for example. From a sustainable forest management perspective, it is the long-term utilisation rate of forests that should stay below 100 %.

Figure 2. Forest utilisation rates, by country

Outlook beyond 2020

Overall, the expected outlook is a slightly increased forest utilisation rate; however, it is not expected to increase beyond 100 % in the long term (UNECE and FAO, 2011a). The outlook for the forest utilisation rate will depend on the demand for biomass as a renewable energy source (UNECE and FAO, 2011b). Biomass energy demand is expected to increase beyond 2020 as part of the EU’s efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050 (EC, 2011) and in line with the 7^th EAP’s 2050 low-carbon economy vision.

An increased demand for biomass could increase the demand for wood and, hence, the utilisation rate (Berndes et al., 2016). However, some stakeholders consider that the use of wood directly from the forest for renewable energy may be neither carbon neutral nor an efficient use of this resource (Berndes et al., 2016) and this may run counter to a potential increase in demand for wood energy. It is also likely that wood use would be more efficient within a circular economy, in which nothing is wasted (EC, 2015). The EU’s ambition to move towards a circular economy may, therefore, lead to less forest fellings for timber and fuel (Berndes et al., 2016).

Climate change is also a factor that will affect the composition and distribution of current forest resources. Desertification is expected to spread in the south of Europe while forest cover is projected to increase with higher altitudes and latitudes (EEA, 2017). The resulting impact of climate change on forest utilisation rates has not been explored.

About the indicator

The forest utilisation rate is the ratio between the annual volume felled and the volume of annual growth in the stock of living trees. The ratio is used widely to assess the current and future availability of wood. A ratio below 100 % indicates that the growing stock, the timber reserve, is stable. In the long term, the volume felled must not exceed the volume of growth. However, the indicator needs cautious interpretation, as it depends directly on the volume of annual growth.

Average annual increment is calculated as the increase in growing stock volume over a year. An increase in growing stock results from maturing forests and an increase in forest area. The correct assessment of the volume of growing stock in Europe should be based on additional information on diameter and/or age class distributions, which are not available in a harmonised way at European level; for example in some countries the measurement of increment includes only growth on trees with a diameter larger than 10 centimeters. In addition, natural losses are excluded from the annual increment while the fellings of these natural losses are not. There is therefore a need for further development of this indicator.

Furthemore, the forest utilisation rate indicator only partly describes sustainable forest management (see the setting the scene section for a definition of sustainable forest management).

The indicator has no link to biodiversity as it does not indicate whether or not biodiversity and forest ecosystem services are protected or maintained. Aspects of forest biodiversity are included in the EU protected species briefing (AIRS_PO1.7, 2017), the EU protected habitats briefing (AIRS_PO1.8, 2017) and the Common birds and butterflies briefing (AIRS_PO1.6, 2017). The indicator indirectly relates to an increased stock of carbon in forest biomass, which is a service provided by forests that mitigates climate change.