Forestry : Germany

Almost a third of the Federal Republic’s total area - 10.7 million hectares - is covered by forest. The two states with the largest forest area in proportion to their total size are Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse (about 40 percent), while the one with the lowest proportion of forests - apart from the city-states - is Schleswig-Holstein (about nine percent).

About 40 million cubic meters of solid timber are felled in Germany every year. Considerably less timber is felled than is simultaneously growing back. As a result, wood supplies are now steadily rising. Through deliberate measures to increase deciduous and mixed forests, it has at the same time been possible to strengthen the resistance of tree stocks to damaging environmental influences and to breakage caused by high winds and heavy snow. Deciduous and mixed stands now account for about 60 percent of total forest area.