Launched on the occasion of the seventh FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference, held from 20-21 October 2015 in Madrid, Spain, the 'State of Europe's Forests 2015' report shows expansion of Europe's forest area and progress on sustainable forest management. By providing detailed information about the current status of European forests and the associated trends over the last two and a half decades, the State of Europe's Forests report aims to stimulate debate on the role of forests in society and the implementation of sustainable forest management in the region. It also seeks to provide policy-makers with evidence-based information that can be used as a solid basis for future political commitments on forests and other forest-related issues in Europe. The 2015 report shows that forest area in Europe keeps increasing, offering great opportunities for mitigating climate change as well as for the development of the forest sector and a transition to a green economy. At the same time, there are an increasing number of countries with improved national policy instruments for sustainable forest management. The number of countries in Europe with a formal National Forest Programme process has almost tripled since 2007, and a forest policy document exists in practically all FOREST EUROPE countries. In addition, over 70% of forests in Europe have a management plan, which means that an area of over 155 million hectares in the European region is covered by forests under management plans or their equivalents.

Read more: http://www.foresteurope.org/docs/fullsoef2015.pdf