Biodiversity of European Countries Young People in European Forests

Contents Forest cover in Europe Forest area in European countries The composition of forests Protected areas National Parks Map of Natura 2000 areas Natura 2000 Natural monuments Red-listed species Endemic species Forests' owners Lycaena helle

Forest cover in Europe in 2010

Forest area of European countries Forest cover of Europe is 47%.

Forests' composition Finland is dominated by coniferous trees - half of the growing stock consists of Scots pine, 30% of Norway spruce and 20% of broadleaved species.

Forests' composition Deciduous species play the biggest role in countries located in the south of Europe: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (85,6%), Hungary and Italy (70%).

Protected areas Today protected areas cover a relatively large part of Europe – 25% (including Natura 2000 sites). In Europe there is a wide range of sizes of protected areas, ranging from km 2 for the Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland down to an individual tree, such as the Kaéja smreka in Godovic, Slovenia.

National Parks The most national parks are in Norway – 37 on the mainland and 7 on Svalbard archipelago. Vatnajökull National Park accouts for 12% of Island. In Germany the land area of all national parks amounts 0,5% of the territory of the country. Ojcowski National Park has the smallest area – just 21,46km 2.

Map of Natura 2000 areas

Natura % of the land of Slovenia is in Natura 2000 program. In Latvia terrestial territories of Natura 2000 cover 12% of whole area of the country. In Slovakia 90% of these areas is forested. The smallest percentage of forests in Natura 2000 is in Denmark (8.3%).

Natural monuments HIGHEST TREE IN POLAND Species: Spruce (Pinus sylvestris) Location: Upper Rycerka, province. Silesian and Bialowieza National Park Height: 51.8 m HIGHEST TREE OF EUROPE The Karri Knight Genre: Varicoloured- Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus diversicolor) Location: de Canas, Portugal Height: 72 m

Red-listed species Today species have been put on the European Red List. For instance in Sweden there are red listed species, out of which more than half are forest dwellers. Mustela lutreola Turnix sylvaticus

Endemic species Greece is home to around 6,000 different plant species and over 700 of those are endemic. That equates to about 15% endemism – the highest in the whole of Europe. In Greece over animal and plant species are endemic. Crocidura zimmermanni Fritillaria epirotica

Forests' owners 92% of Portugal forests are private. It is the highest percentage in Europe. Most forests in Poland are public, which is around 82% (within 94% state).

Bibliography  YPEF Educational material, fourth edition, 2014  Google Graphics  ted-areas-in-europe-2012    docs/jc-sessions/jc-24/reports/croatia.pdf

The presentation was made by: Sandra Golubiewska kl. IIB Patrycja Lamczyk kl. IIB Krzysztof Chłanda kl. IIB From I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Henryka Sienkiewicza w Łańcucie, Poland.