Natura 2000 and Forests
Forests and other wooded areas across the EU-28 currently cover 176 million hectares, representing about 42% of the EU's land area. These forests provide Europe’s population with economic, environmental, and cultural benefits and serve as some of our most valuable terrestrial habitats, home to countless plant and animal species.
The biodiversity value of European forests varies significantly based on factors such as management practices, historical use, age, and structural diversity. Most of Europe’s forests show signs of human influence. About three-quarters are "age class stands," meaning they consist of trees planted and growing within the same age range, while mixed stands with two or more tree species make up 67% of forested areas, and 33% are dominated by a single tree species. Only about 2% of forests are left unmanaged and follow natural forest development ("process protection" = “wilderness”). These natural forests are primarily located in core zones of national parks. Germany aims to increase this share up to 5% as part of its National Biodiversity Strategy (source: National Strategy for Biological Diversity, Cabinet decision of 7 November 2007). In the past, forest management was mainly focused on timber production, which in most cases led to homogeneous forest structures, with the loss of important deadwood-stages and its associated organisms, which in turn affected the forests’ ability to provide ecosystem services. With climate change pressures, the preservation and protection of biodiversity and thus resilient forest habitats are one of the most important challenges we face today.
The Natura 2000 network of protected areas, Europe’s largest nature conservation network aims to integrate sustainable forest management with nature conservation objectives. Forest habitats of around 375,000 km² are protected as SAC or SPA under Natura 2000 network. That makes up roughly 50% of the entire area protected by Natura 2000 and 21% of EU’s total forest resources. These forests represent a diverse array of habitats, differing in species composition, size, environmental conditions like climate and soil, and the ways in which they are managed. While some areas, especially old-growth forests, are completely taken out from any landuse practice (“wilderness”) as part of the National Biodiversity Strategy to support underrepresented organisms and ecosystem functions linked to deadwood (e.g., Bässler et al., 2014; Paillet et al., 2009; Müller 2015), sustainable forest management (“near to nature logging-practices”) can still align with many conservation objectives.
Sustainably managed forests can hold high biodiversity value, depending on management type and local conditions. Certain species groups benefit from near-to-nature-logging (= sustainable) forestry (Paillet et al., 2009; Gossner et al., 2013) or specific practices like coppicing (Dolek et al., 2018). Choosing suitable management strategies is crucial, as understanding forest ecosystems and the impact of different management methods is essential for effectively managing forest habitats and achieving Natura 2000 conservation goals.
Sources
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) (2007): National Strategy on Biological Diversity, October 2007.
Bässler C., Ernst R., Cadotte M., Heibl C., Müller J. (2014): Near-to-nature logging influences fungal community assembly processes in a temperate forest. Journal of Applied Ecology
Dolek M, Kőrösi Á, Freese-Hager (2018). A Successful maintenance of Lepidoptera by government-funded management of coppiced forests. Journal of Insect Conservation 43: 75-83.
Paillet, Y. et al. (2009): Biodiversity Differences between Managed and Unmanaged Forests: Meta-Analysis of Species Richness in Europe. Conservation Biology 24(1): 101-112.
Müller J. (2015): Process Protection and Biodiversity Surprises and Lessons from the Bavarian Forest - Nature and Landscape 9/10: 421-425.
Gossner M., Lachat T., Brunet J., Isacsson G., Bouget C., Brustel H., Branld R., Weisser W., Müller J. (2013): Current Near-to-Nature Forest Management Effects on Functional Trait Composition of Saproxylic Beetles in Beech Forests. Conservation Biology 27.