Primary and ancient forests are shrinking in the EU and need more robust and up-to-date mapping to better protect them, according to a report published by the European Commission on 22 April - World Earth Day.
The Joint Research Centre report shows that only 4.9 million hectares of these forests - Europe’s natural capital, essential for preserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change - remain, representing only 3% of the EU’s total forest area and 1.2% of the EU’s land mass.
It provides support for the EU’s commitment, as part of its 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, to identify, map, monitor and strictly protect all remaining primary and ancient forests in the EU.
“We’ll map, monitor and move forward with their strict protection!” EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said on Twitter.
According to Research Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, “this latest report provides scientific evidence and highlights knowledge gaps”.
It documents a significant mapping deficit in some parts of the EU and also confirms that the majority of already mapped primary and old growth forest areas are protected to some extent, for example by the pan-European Natura 2000 network. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)