FORESTS IN HUNGARY,    FORESTS IN EUROPE

The majority of Hungary belongs to the European deciduous forest zone, parts of the Great Plain to the forest-steppe zone. However, the preserved original plant cover of Hungary is merely 9 %.
The large lower parts are characterised by small amounts of precipitation and extreme temperature changes. The naturally forest-covered areas are the Western part of the Trans-Danubian region and the mountains – generally higher than 400m above sea level. Here the annual precipitation generally exceeds 600 mm required for the maintenance of forests. In the lower regions forests could only develop where the water level is not too high but within reach of the tree root or on flood plains. In the lack of such water resources only brush lands may develop that can hardly be called forests. As forests are needed at such places as well to protect or improve soil, agricultural areas or to provide recreation areas, drought tolerating species are planted in these areas (usually trees that are not indigenous to the area). It is clear thus that the regional location of Hungarian forests is determined by climate conditions – mostly the annual amount of precipitation and the related air humidity – and the presence or lack of supplementary water resources.

Thousand years of human intervention has changed the natural environment significantly. As well the aspects of forests are changing since the beginning. This is due to the natural circumstances and the human interventions. There is no forest in Hungary that has avoided human intervention, but even if it were so, human effects – river regulation, air pollution – could not be eliminated.
The proportion of nature-like forests is about 52 % in Hungary. The rate of cultivated forests that primarily supply wood is about 48 %.