FORESTS IN EUROPE,    FORESTS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

If you look at Europe from Space, through a digital eye of a satellite, you would notice a seemingly solid structure formed of vast, dark green woodland. When you compare our continent to  all the others on our globe, then you become aware that Europe is actually an island in the forests of the world. It is an island where the total area of forests not only manages not to decrease (which is the predominant fact on the whole planet), but since the XVIII century it has increased. It is a place where the relations between woodlands and society continue to evolve, turning its back on demands for mass raw material and focusing more on the ecological aspects such as the protection and conservation of ecosystems and landscapes. It is a trend which is moving away from the typical aspects of timber production in forests. This is a privilege that only a quite wealthy society such as the European can afford. In the poorer parts of the World, the pressure to increase the agricultural acreage at the expense of forests is fuelled by the millions of starving people who use wood to survive on a daily basis.

Europe and its forests

    At first glance, the forests of the old continent appear to form a single blanket, but look closer and you will find the local and regional differences in the most complicated and complex of ecosystems. The boundaries between the woodlands can be distinguished, from the northern and mountain spruce forests, endless terrain of pine forests, multi species forests on highlands and mountains, long stretches of riparian forests, Mediterranean evergreen bushes of macchia, to the small remains of ancient forests. All types of forest are distinct, whether it’s the different type of tree species growing in them, the abundance of flora and fauna, the fertility of the habitat, the way the land has been managed and the history of the forestry in one area, which over the years has sometimes been administrated by several countries.

Mountain forest and deadwood

     The forests of the old continent are diverse in terms of the composition of species, the acreage they take up and the history of their management, but they are also becoming much more similar to each other when it comes the functions they play in the modern world, their role in the landscape and their expectations towards society. In the course of our journey through the European forest we will examine the variety and we will try to find the strong bond linking the management of the forest and their functions.
     This voyage will cover not only the many countries of Europe but it will also be a look to the past. It will start in the Mediterranean cradle of our modern civilization and continue towards the north according to the chronological order of settlement in Europe. We will see just how the history of our economy has left a lasting mark on the forest resources in nature. The first traces of settlement are 8000 years old and come from southeastern Europe, whereas the findings in the northern part of the continent are almost 6000 years younger.  Oak and cedar forests died out in the medieval times (in those days people called for their protection). The first signs of people consciously managing the forests of Western Europe are dated at the middle of the last millennium. In northern Europe only some forests were managed by man for the last 200-300 years. Many of them escaped the exploitation phase of industrial development in the era of smelting iron ore, and began to manage them right from the principle of providing a sustainable forest, one that also gives steady income. The journey northwards will also have a different dimension, as we will be following the footsteps of the withdrawing distant glacier, passing through woodland areas of contrasting climate growing conditions, as well as the geological age of the soil surface, from the oldest to the youngest.

Boreal spruce forest, raw postglacial landscape

       We will therefore follow the course of history of the European civilization but also against the clock of the time of nature, watching forests that resemble their old ancestors, which grew during the severe post glacial climate. Let’s begin our journey through the forests and centuries...