Results

Since the previous measurements, the forest area in the Netherlands has increased slightly to 373,480 hectares and now accounts for 11% of the land use. More than three quarters of the forested area qualifies as high forest (even-aged and uneven-aged). The rest consists of special forest and other plantings.

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Part of the forested area could not be included in the inventory (6% of the sampling points) because access was denied or the location was inaccessible. Ownership conditions have hardly changed since the MFV

Age distribution of the Dutch forest in the different forest inventories
Age distribution of the Dutch forest in the different forest inventories

Despite the increase in clearcut areas (1.4% compared with 0.3% in MFV) the Dutch forest is getting older, more mixed and slightly more uneven-aged. The average stock of living and dead wood continues to increase. The average increment has declined slightly while felling levels have remained more or less the same.

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There has been a clear shift from conifer to broad-leaved species. Roughly two thirds of the annual estimated felling of 1.3 million cubic metres of wood comes from conifer forests and one third from broad-leaved forests. On the other hand, broad-leaved species account for around 75-80% of the regeneration. As a result, the percentage of conifers is gradually declining in terms of surface area, stock and increment. The ratio of conifer to broad-leaved species is now more or less equal, with the Scots pine as the main conifer species and the oak as the main broad-leaved species. Poplars are rapidly losing ground. A striking result is that there has been no felling in 43% of the permanent sampling plots since the MFV.

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