Silvicultural and forest improvement work 2018

• In 2018, a total of EUR 252 million were invested in silviculture and forest improvement, up by 3% from the previous year in real terms (deflated using the wholesale price index, 1949=100). Of this amount, silviculture comprised EUR 230 million and forest improvement EUR 22 million.
• The highest costs came from all pre-commercial thinnings and improvement of young stands, nearly one-third of total silviculture and forest improvement costs. These were followed by artificial forest regeneration, accounting for 23% of total costs.
• The artificial regeneration area decreased by 7% to 96,000 hectares from the previous year. All pre-commercial thinnings and young stands were managed over an area of 185,000 hectares.
• On the basis of notifications of forest use, the felling area was estimated to be 794,000 hectares in 2018. Clearcutting made by more than one-fifth and natural regeneration 5% of the felling area. The area of thinning and the removal of seed trees and shelterwood trees totalled 573,000 hectares.
• Statistics of silviculture and forest improvement include work carried out in non-industrial private forests, forest industries' forests and state owned forests. From 2015, the statistics do not include work carried out independently by non-industrial private forest owners in their own forests, as it is not recorded in the statistical data collected from forest service providers.

Infographics:

Total costs of silvicultural and forest improvement work, 2018