Forest area and growing stock Age distribution

Area by species

Cutting age distribution

Forest area ratio by counties in Hungary

Forest area and growing stock from 1985

Temporarily unmanaged forests

After the World War I, Hungary lost 84% of its forests. Forest cover decreased from 26% to 12%. Due to afforestation activities carried out in the XXth century, forest area ratio exceeds 20 % at present.

Vertical lines and the figures next to them indicate mean age and mean cutting age.

Age and cutting age distributions of the forests are highly important because of yield control. That is, because forest management has to ensure wood supply permanently in accordance with the demand of the society. In protected areas, both mean age and mean cutting age are higher due to ecological reasons.

The majority of the Hungarian forests consists of deciduous species of which black locust covers the largest area but oaks are the foremost regarding growing stock.

Not

pro

tect

edN

ot p

rote

cted

Prot

ecte

dPr

otec

ted

Hybrid poplarsNoble oaks Native poplarsTurkey oak WillowsBeech ConifersBlack locust

Hybrid poplarsNoble oaks Native poplarsTurkey oak WillowsBeech ConifersBlack locust

40–

30–

20–

10–

0–

40–

30–

20–

10–

0–

60–

40–

20–

0–

60–

40–

20–

0–

54

96

6656

92 44108 69

37 44

34 28 34 40 56716870

Species composition

Growing stock by species

Noble oaks Turkey oak Beech Hornbeam Black locust Other hardwood species

Hybrid poplars Native poplars Willows Other softwood species Conifers

1000 km2

area

(tho

usan

d ha

)

455

388

212195

116 112 11297 86 79

20

Needed additionally: 0.57 million ha

–400

–300

–200

2.5–

2.0–

1.5–

1.0–

area

(tho

usan

d ha

)

fore

st a

rea

(mill

ion

ha)

National Forest Programme (2008), forest ratio of 27 % by 2050

– – – –

1990 2000 2010 2020

growing stock (m

illion m3)

250–

230–

210–

190–

Summary figures on forests

Registered forest land area 2058.7 thousand ha

Area of forest subcompartments 1939.3 thousand ha

Forest area ratio 20.8 percent

Standing volume 381.9 million gr. m³

Annual increment 13.0 million gr. m³

Total felling volume 7.3 million gr. m³

of which final cut volume 4.9 million gr. m³

Initial planting in afforestations 0.2 thousand ha

Area where reforestation was started 17.8 thousand ha

Reforestation obligation after final cut 20.1 thousand ha

Area where regeneration has been finished 19.1 thousand ha

growing stock

forest area

0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

1500 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150

0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

1500 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150 0 50 100

150

2124 26

38 30

89116 54108 102 593548

50

area

pro

porti

on (p

erce

ntag

e ra

tio o

f the

age

-gro

up a

rea

to

the

who

le a

rea

cove

red

by th

e sp

ecie

s)

area

pro

porti

on (p

erce

ntag

e ra

tio o

f the

age

-gro

up a

rea

to

the

who

le a

rea

cove

red

by th

e sp

ecie

s)

10 million m3

Recreation function of forests

Amount of recreational places in forests

Distribution of recreational places

Published by the National Food Chain Safety Office, Forestry Directorate, Budapest, 2017Photos were made by: István Czirok and József Dávid.

Exhibitions, monuments, parks

Hiking centers

Springs

Rest areas

Lookout towers

Nature trails

Other recreational places

1990 2000 2010

2–

1–

0–

quan

tity

(tho

usan

d pc

s)

100 pcs places

portal.nebih.gov.hu

Recreational function of forests is more and more demanded. Moreover, it helps to keep people in the countryside. Thus, recreational function should be extended and its quality should be improved.

Organisational structure – Forest administration

Prime Minister’s Office

First instance authority County Government Offices (10) Department of Agriculture

Second instance authority Pest County Government OfficeDepartment of Food Chain Safety, Land Registry, Plant Protection and Soil Conservation, Forestry

Ministry of Agriculture

Department of Forestry and HuntingSection of State Forest Management

Section of Forest Administration

Department of National Park and Landscape Protection

National Food Chain Safety Office Forestry Directorate

Directorate of PlantProduction and Horticulture

Department of Forestryand Energy ReproductionMaterials

Number of pieces of equipments of recreational places

Benches, furniture 9 254

Fireplaces 1 539

Information boards 5 170

Buildings 1 162

Spring catchments 633

Sport and game tools 884

Objects useful for hiking (e.g., stairs, bridges, tracks) 1 238

Other (e.g., toilets, litter bins, monuments) 4 038

Naturalness, nature conservation

In the EU, 25 %, whereas in Hungary, 40 % of the forests belongs to the Natura 2000 network. Out of the forests, 12 % and 23 % is protected in Europe and in Hungary, respectively. Natura 2000 and protected forests significantly contribute to ensure the long-term survival of Europe’s and Hungary’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats.

Systems following natural forest dynamics, ensuring con-tinuous forest cover and diverse tree stand structure have been more and more applied in the last years. In Hungary, three kinds of such systems are defined: the selection system (harvests are carried out frequently but only in small patches), the transition system (the main objective of which is to switch from rotation system to selection system) and the ‘non-productive’ system (with the main aim to let natural processes take their course).

Half of the Hungarian forests dominate by species native in the given forestry region. Non-natural forests, plantation-like stands and plantations are originated from afforestations carried out in the past century (amounting to approximately one million ha). Thus, their large area does not refer to degradation.

Distribution of Natura 2000 and protected areas

Forest naturalness

Evolution of continuous cover forestry systems

Natural forest 0.01%

Close-to-nature forest 21.05%

Semi-natural forest 31.92%

Non-natural forest 7.2%

Plantation-like stand 33.67%

Plantation 6.15%

Natura 2000 site

Total forest area

Protected forests

Protected Part of the Natura 2000 network

Area

thousand ha

%

Ï õ 418 20

Ï Ï 1183 57

õ õ 416 20

õ Ï 42 3

Forest management activities must not decrease naturalness.

150–

100–

50–

0–

area

(tho

usan

d ha

)

Selection

Transition

Non-productive

2004 2008 2012 2016

– – – –– – – – – – – – – – – –

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

– – –

54 5348

40

2320 18 17 16

volu

me

(mill

ion

m³)

89

5

age-group

age-group

year of foundation

calendar year calendar year calendar year

species group

species group

In order to maintain biodiversity, close-to-nature forest manage-ment is recommended in non-pro-tected forests, too.

Non-indigenous species in the Hungarian forests Wood products from domestic wood

Newly afforested areas between 2005 and 2016

Afforestations

Forest damages

In beech and oak stands occuring in mountainous and hilly areas, cover of non-indigenous species is low. By contrast, dominant species of stands planted in the lowlands are not native.

Net harvested volume amounted to 6 million m³ in 2016 which were equally distributed between industrial round-wood and wood fuel . Sawlogs are the most important industrial roundwood products. Black locust is the most widely-used as wood fuel but noble and turkey oaks are also demanded.

The vast majority of the afforestations can be found in the Great Hungarian Plain. Afforestations consist mainly of black locust and noble oaks.

Interactive online forest maphttp://erdoterkep.nebih.gov.hu

Late frosts during the springtime of 2016 severely damaged many young tree stands. More than 40 thousand hectares of frost damages were registered, mainly in West Hungary.

Cover of non-indigenous species by forestry regions

Wood fuel production and net revenue of state forestry companies from wood fuel volume unit

Distribution of afforestations carried out after 2004

Frost damage in young stands

Figures show data recorded by professional foresters.

Figure shows net revenues from total wood fuel volume which were corrected for the effects of inflation. It includes fine and thick fuelwood, volume sold to private persons or to companies. It also includes the quantity gathered or cut by the consumers in the forest as well as that logged and split by the forestry companies.

Data on wood products are gathered from forest managers in the frame of National Statistical Data Collection Programme. Country-level statistics are calculated from sample data.

Invasive species are non-indigenous and capable of spread-ing fast throughout the forested ecosystem endangering its biological diversity. Among them, black locust is of great economical importance.

Invasive tree species can decrease forest naturalness. Thus, it is important to monitor them.

The modern forest protection is preventive and respects ecological processes. It aims to increase forests’ resistance.

Non-indigenous and native species by tree stand types

400–

300–

200–

100–

0–

area

(tho

usan

d ha

)

black locust

non-indigenous

invasive

native

Oak

Beec

h

Bl

ack

locu

st

Oth

er h

ardw

ood

Hybr

id p

opla

r an

d hy

brid

w

illow

Nati

ve p

opla

r an

d ot

her

softw

ood

Coni

fer

area ratio of non-indigenous species (%)

– 70

– 60

– 50

– 40

– 30

– 20

– 10

– 0

1000 ha

Severe Weak

Medium

Industrial wood production

Wood fuel production

3–

2–

1–

0–

4–

3–

2–

1–

0–

– 15

– 10

– 5

– 0

volu

me

(mill

ion

m³)

volu

me

(mill

ion

m³)

net revenue (thousand HU

F / m3)

2000 2005 2010 2015

wood fuel

net revenue

Noble oaks

Turkey oak

Beech

Hornbeam

Black locust

Other hardwood species

Poplars and willows

Other softwood species

Conifers

3–

2–

1–

0–

volu

me

(mill

ion

m³)

2007 2010 2013 2016

Veneer log

Sawlog

Other roundwood for sawing

Roundwood for mining

Pulpwood for pulp

Pulpwood for wood-based panels

Other industrial roundwood

National Food Chain Safety OfficeForestry Directorate

2016-2030ForestStrategy

NationalThis leaflet was made from data of the National Forestry and Forest Damage Databases of Forestry Authority.

Forest resources and forest management in Hungary, 2016

The most severe forest damagesFrost damage in young stands

Frost damage in mature tree stands

Browsing damage

Drought

Geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Snow break

Inland water

Browsing of the leading shoot

Common pine sawfly (Diprion pini)

Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar)

0 10 20 30 40area (thousand ha)

Oak

Beech

Black locust

Other hardwood species

Poplar and willow

Other softwood species

Conifer

0 5 10 15

100 km2

New public maps created by forest planners can be visualized in a distinct layer.

One can draw and download polygons. Different map files can be uploaded for conversions or in order to orientate yourself.

The map is daily updated from the National Forestry Database. It shows the border lines of forest subcompartments together with various attributes, such as ownership, primary function of the forest, Natura 2000 forests, flammable forest categories.

Enhancement of utilization of renewable and environ-mentally friendly wood products is an important national concern both from ecological and economical aspects.

Support of forest product chains and harmonisation of develop-ment of industries using forest products is of great importance. Thus, spatial and temporal variability of wood supply is to be forecasted for 10-15 years.

Annual increment and cut volume

Greenhouse gas emission in the Land use, Land use Change and Forestry sector

Annual increment of the Hungarian forests has been exceeding cut volume for a long time. This means that standing volume and therefore the removed CO₂ in the wood stock have been increasing year-by-year.

Greenhouse gas emission of Hungary has been decreasing substantially since 1990. Regarding the land use categories quantity of the removed CO₂ was far the highest in forestry.

In Hungary, approximately 3-4 million tonnes carbon-dioxide are removed annually through forest management. This amount can be further increased by afforestations. Forests play an important role in mitigation of climate change effects.

Annual increment and CO₂ removal

Annual increment

Cleaning

Thinning

Other felling

Final cutting

Energy production

Industry

Agriculture

Waste management

Land use, Land use Change and Forestry

Forest land

Cropland

Grassland

Wetland

Settlements

Harvested wood products

10–

5–

0–

gros

s vo

lum

e (m

illio

n m

³)

0.0–

-2.5–

-5.0–

gree

nhou

se g

as e

mis

sion

in C

O₂ e

quiv

alen

t (m

illio

n to

nnes

)

Greenhouse gas emissions by sectors

75–

50–

25–

0–

gree

nhou

se g

as e

mis

sion

in C

O₂ e

quiv

alen

t (m

illio

n to

nnes

)

1990 2000 2010

1990 2000 2010

– – –

– – – – –

– – – –

– – – –

1990 2000 2010

– – –

– – –

1990 2000 2010

– – –area (thousand ha)

calendar year

calendar year

calendar year

calendar year

calendar year

calendar year

area (ha) calendar year

7 693 2005

13 259 2006

18 862 2007

7 186 2008

5 272 2009

5 351 2010

2 803 2011

4 537 2012

2 531 2013

1 287 2014

318 2015

157 2016

tree stand type

– – – –

FORESTRY

AUTHORITY