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Forest management involves various degrees of human intervention to safeguard the forest ecosystem and its functions as well as the exploitation of forest resources. While the objectives of management vary widely and include the protection of resources in protected forests and nature reserves, the primary objective is mostly the production of wood products. Although sustained yield forestry continues to be widely practised, there is an increasing trend towards the management of forests as ecological systems with multiple economic benefits and environmental values, ensuring that benefits meet present as well as future generations’ needs. In order to assess forest management intensity in Europe an indicator based on three data sources has been developed: a) Fast track ecosystem capital accounts (forest growth & harvest – disaggregated to 1km grid), b) Potential forest management (gradient of intensity of intervention with the natural processes in a forest) c) Forest fragmentation (forest ecosystem network connected by forest bridges – GUIDOS Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis). Each input dataset has been assessed separately in a first step in terms of pressures on forest ecosystems which are the result of the specific management, use or respectively state of the forest patch. The overall management related pressure is then derived by crossing the relative pressures by each input and evaluating the constellation of the input representative factors. This updated version of the management related forest pressures is based on the first assessment done in framework of the ETC-SIA report "Land use and land management related pressures on agricultural and forest ecosystems" (ETC-SIA, Task 1.8.4.3 Ecosystem pressures).
The natural assemblage species indicator dataset is a forest dataset that measures the congruency between the potential and current tree species distribution. The natural assemblage indicator is considered one of the key indicator for the identification of High Nature Value forest area in Europe. The reference year for this data set is 2006 and the spatial coverage is including the 28 EU Member States, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey. The methodological approach is based on two data sources: (1) EUNIS woodland, forest and other wooded land habitats, predicted potential distribution of habitat suitability –EEA- as potential distribution; (2) Relative probability of presence of forest tree species (RPP) of European Atlas of Forest Tree Species –JRC- as current distribution. The dataset values express, in the fuzzy values between 0 and 1, the percentage of tree species vegetation agreed with potentially dominant tree species by pixels. This measure is independent of the current forest coverage. The values close to 1 mean high percentage of native tree species (natural) whereas values close to 0 are an approximation of a low level of naturalness, being a high percentage of non-native species.
This interactive viewer shows land recycling status and change accounts for major European Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). Land recycling addresses the reuse of abandoned, vacant or underused urban land for new developments. Land recycling is considered a response to land take within FUAs, i.e. urban development on arable land, permanent crop land or semi-natural areas. It is a key planning instrument for achieving the goal of no net land take by 2050 (EC, 2016).
The intensity of land take is calculated as land take in the given period as a percentage of the area of artificial surfaces in 2000. For easier comparability, land take is summarised within NUTS3 regions.
Article 12 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to report about the progress made with the implementation of the Directive. A report is sent to the European Commission every 6 years following an agreed format. These scoreboards provide information on timeliness of data delivery by Member States for the reporting 2013-2018.
These data sets show the European forest area in 2012 and in 2015 at 100m spatial resolution, covering EEA39 countries. They are based on Copernicus HRL forest products at 20m spatial resolution and comply with the FAO forest definition (i.e. minimum mapping unit of 0.5 ha, minimum coverage of 10% and excluding land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use). After the selection of those pixels identified as forest by the HRL forest products and also compliant with FAO criteria, the forest area dataset at 100m was computed as a Boolean product (i.e. forest / non-forest). The value 1 (forest area) correspond to the pixels where forest is the major coverage; otherwise the pixel value is 0 (non-forest area).
The delineation of European mountain areas was carried out by using digital elevation models, considering different criteria combination of thresholds of altitude, climate, and topography variables (IP2008 8.2.7 Regional and territorial development of mountain areas, ETC/LUSI - EEA). This dataset was created in 2008, covers the full European continent and is a reference layer for the EEA Report No 6/2010 on Europe's ecological backbone: recognising the true value of our mountain.
Catches - north-east Atlantic (from 2000 onwards) [fish_ca_atl27]
Healthy forests, soils, seas and other ecosystems form Europe’s ‘natural capital’, which is vital for our well-being and the economy. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new analysis, published today, looks at how to measure the condition of Europe’s natural capital and provides a first overview of the state and trends of Europe’s ecosystems. The report also highlights the need for better data on the condition of ecosystems in Europe.
Maintaining 'natural capital', i.e. ecosystems and the services they provide, is fundamental to human economic activity and well-being. The need to conserve and enhance natural capital is therefore an explicit policy target in the EU's Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and its Seventh Environment Action Programme. Approaches to measuring the stocks of natural resources that yield benefits as natural capital have gained considerable traction in recent decades. By providing regular, objective data that are consistent with wider statistical data, natural capital accounting can provide the fundamental evidence base required for informing economic and environmental decision making that delivers on these ambitions for natural capital.
The map shows the distribution of fragmentation classes across Europe. Classes represent the number of meshes per 1 000 km2. Light colours mean less fragmentation pressure and dark colours mean higher fragmentation pressure of urban and transport infrastructure expansion.
Article 11 of the Habitats Directive requires Member States to monitor the conservation status of the habitats and species listed in its annexes. Article 17 requires a report to be sent to the European Commission every 6 years following an agreed format. These scoreboards provide information on timeliness of data delivery by Member States for the reporting 2013-2018.
The main objective of the Action Plan is to promote the development of coordinated efforts and management measures throughout the Mediterranean region in order to prevent as appropriate, minimize and limit, monitor, and control marine biological invasions and their impacts on biodiversity, human health, and ecosystem services.
Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas, which include other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. These include water purification, air quality, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation. This network of green (land) and blue (water) spaces can improve environmental conditions and therefore citizens' health and quality of life. It also supports a green economy, creates job opportunities and enhances biodiversity. To maximise the benefits it provides, GI should be an essential component of spatial and physical planning. Developing GI is a key step towards successfully implementing the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy. Target 2 of the strategy requires that ‘by 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems.’
Maintaining natural capital is vital for the function of our societies and people’s well-being. A new briefing from the European Environment Agency (EEA), published today, analyses how to plan for green infrastructure and ecosystem restoration, which in turn can enhance biodiversity, support green economy and create job opportunities.
Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas, which include other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. These include water purification, air quality, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation. This network of green (land) and blue (water) spaces can improve environmental conditions and therefore citizens' health and quality of life. It also supports a green economy, creates job opportunities and enhances biodiversity. To maximise the benefits it provides, GI should be an essential component of spatial and physical planning. Developing GI is a key step towards successfully implementing the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy. Target 2 of the strategy requires that ‘by 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems.’
Natura 2000 sites, public forests and riparian corridors: The connectivity backbone of forest green infrastructure
For references, please go to https://eea.europa.eu./themes/biodiversity/dm or scan the QR code.
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