Impact of Forests on Net National Emissions of Carbon Dioxide in West Europe

The amount of forest biomass increased and thereby reduced the net national emissions of CO2 in Europe, in some countries more than in others. Estimates of the annual C fluxes through forests in 17 west European countries are presented, based on recent statistics. The flux in each country is subdivided into components referring to removal, change in the remaining growing stock, and detritus formation. The relative contribution of forests to the national C budget varied by two orders of magnitude between the upper extremes (Sweden and Finland) and the lower extremes (Netherlands, Belgium and the UK). Such large differences between countries must have an impact on policies and strategies for controling the net C emissions. Because the capacity of forests to carry biomass is limited, the net flux of C from the atmosphere into the forests is expected to decrease. Afforestation and improved management of the removed forest biomass could compensate for this development.

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