Harmonisation of the estimation of forest available for wood supply in Europe

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200206857

Wood is currently the main source of financial revenue from forests and its demand is rapidly growing in Europe. It is important to determine whether forest is available or not for wood supply (FAWS and FNAWS) in order to develop forestry related policies with regard to the maintenance and enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to global carbon cycles. The importance of reporting on FAWS and FNAWS is reflected in the agreed criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management assembled in the State of Europe’s Forests and indirectly in the Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Based on the information provided by the National Forest inventories from 21 European countries, this study aims to quantify the areas of FAWS and FNAWS
as well as aboveground dry matter biomass according to national definitions and common reference definitions, and to determine the restrictions and thresholds considered at country level to classify forest into FAWS and FNAWS. Preliminary results indicates that FAWS represents between 80-95% of forest area and AGB in nearly all of the studied countries. A nested restriction list was elaborated, identifying the restrictions considered for the national estimates and those included in the references definition. In Europe, economic and environmental restrictions are the main factors associated with FNAWS, of which profitability, slope and accessibility as economic and protected areas as environmental restrictions are the most frequently considered types of restrictions determining the forests availability for wood supply.